ERISA at 50 Series: What Has the Pivot to 401(k) Plans Done for Us?

When ERISA was enacted on September 2, 1974, defined benefit pension plans were the predominant vehicle for providing retirement income to employees, offering investments managed by employers and offering participants (later their spouses, too) a fixed annuity for life. These retirement plans have declined in availability as many employer-sponsored pension plans have been terminated or frozen. 401(k) plans allow many employees to accumulate substantial retirement savings on a tax-favored basis. But were they meant to be the primary retirement plan for employees that they are today?

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Related Content

• 50 Years Later, ERISA Remains a Work in Progress
  Imagine only vesting in your retirement plan benefit when you attained the plan’s normal retirement age—typically age 65. That would be a problem with today’s mobile workforce.  Current law sets forth 401(k) vesting schedules (which apply to employer contributions) ranging from three-year cliff vesting to gradual vesting over six years. Big changes from pre-ERISA!
• ERISA Title I Fundamentals Review ERISA’s eligibility, vesting, funding, reporting and disclosure, and fiduciary rules in Title I of ERISA. To show the evolution of changes, when ERISA was enacted, plans had different retirement ages for men and women and women were required to pay more (in contributory plans) to fund the same dollar pension as a similarly situated man because they had a longer life expectancy under actuarial tables. A 1978 Supreme Court case eliminated this gender distinction.
• 401(k) and Other Defined Contribution Plan Compliance Resource Kit
  Learn more about the design, administration, and governance of 401(k) plans and other defined contribution plans by referring to the content of this resource kit. 

Practical Guidance Updates 
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• Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Key Legal Developments Tracker (Current)
  Stay informed on new developments.
• ERISA. A Texas district court placed a hold on the Department of Labor’s Retirement Security Rule, expanding an earlier stay on all of the rule’s exemptions. American Council of Life Insurers v. DOL, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131589 (E.D. Tex. July 25, 2024).
• Retirement Plans. IRS and Treasury issue final regulations addressing plan-specific mortality tables. 89 Fed. Reg. 61343 (July 31, 2024).
• Retirement Plans. DOL announced its EBSA divisionhas launched an online system to help qualified termination administrators more efficiently submit information required by the department’s Abandoned Plan Program. DOL News Release (July 19, 2024). 
  • Health and Welfare Plans. HHS released a model attestationfor covered entities (including health plans) and business associates to use when they receive requests for protected health information (PHI) potentially related to reproductive health care. HHS, Model Attestation for a Requested Use or Disclosure of Protected Health Information Potentially Related to Reproductive Health Care. For a related story, see HHS Fact Sheet.
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• New and Updated Practical Guidance Content
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