Benefits & ERISA Law

The End of the Pre-History of Retirement

Here is an entertaining history of retirement in a nutshell, at least up to the new world we inhabit today, in which defined contribution plans govern and employees bear all the risk. What is interesting to note is that this conventional version of the story basically ends with the - effectively, in any event - death of pensions. The world of retirement and the law that governs it in the new world of defined contribution plans is the story we see playing out in the rulings, such as this one and this one, that are beginning to open up liability for those who are responsible for the operation of defined contribution plans; how and where that evolutionary line proceeds is the gazillion dollar question for all those who may end up with fiduciary liability for any errors that occur as this process plays out.

Full post as published by Boston ERISA Law Blog on August 05, 2008 (boomark / email).