What's New for Employers & Practitioners

2025 Premium Filing Instructions: The Comprehensive Premium Filing Instructions for 2025 plan years have been approved by OMB and are now available on PBGC's website. The most significant change from last year’s instructions relates to when 2025 premiums are due. Because of a provision contained in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, premium due dates for plan years beginning in 2025 are generally due a month earlier than usual. See Technical Update 25-1 for more information.

My PAA has been updated accordingly and is now ready to accept 2025 filings. Additional enhancements were also made, including the ability to submit payments directly from My PAA on demand, outside of the premium filing process.

Annual Update of Maximum Civil Monetary Penalty: Federal law requires that PBGC amend its civil penalty regulations annually to incorporate an inflation adjustment on the maximum penalty that may be assessed for failure to provide certain required information (e.g., reportable event filings, 4010 filings, certain multiemployer plan notices). Accordingly, PBGC published a final rule amending two regulations (29 CFR parts 4071 and 4302). Although the maximum penalty is increasing, it is uncommon for PBGC to assess this amount. The agency's goal is to encourage compliance. In most cases, when PBGC assesses an information penalty, it is for an amount significantly less than the maximum permitted.

Early Premium Due Date for 2025: On January 6th, PBGC issued Technical Update 25-1 providing guidance on the effect of Section 502 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 on premium due dates for plan years beginning in 2025.  Because of that provision, premiums for 2025 are generally due a month earlier than usual.

Updates to XRA rate tables and Missing Participants Program Mortality: On December 20, 2024, PBGC published a final rule amending its valuation regulation (29 CFR 4044) to:

• Provide a new table for selecting the “retirement rate category” to be used to determine the applicable expected retirement age (“XRA”) for participants in single-employer plans for valuation dates in 2025. XRA is one of the assumptions used to determine liabilities under ERISA section 4044 (per 29 CFR 4044). A copy of the table is available on PBGC’s ERISA Section 4044 Retirement Assumptions web page.
• Provide the mortality table to be used for benefit determination dates in 2025 when determining certain transfer amounts under the Missing Participants Program in accordance ERISA section 4050 (29 CFR 4050). An Excel version of this mortality table is available on PBGC’s ERISA section 4044/4050 mortality table web page.

2024 Form 5500: On November 25, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and PBGC released advance informational copies of the 2024 Form 5500 Annual Return/Report and related instructions. See EBSA’s News Release for more information, including a summary of key changes.

Benefit Restrictions – Present Value of PBGC Maximum Guarantee: On November 4, 2024, PBGC posted a table showing the present values applicable to benefits with annuity starting dates in 2025. A two-column spreadsheet version of the table is also available for convenient copying. For more information see Technical Update 07-04.

Special Financial Assistance Permissible Investments – Frequently Asked Questions: PBGC has posted a new SFA frequently asked question that provides guidance for multiemployer plans that receive SFA. The new SFA FAQ explains what types of derivative exposure, outside of permissible fund vehicles, are permissible in portfolios of SFA assets and provides examples. PBGC also has posted an updated FAQ on examples of permissible investment grade fixed income (IGFI) securities to clarify when fixed-to-float securities are permissible IGFI securities. The new and updated FAQs are also accessible on the SFA Program page under Resources.

Guarantee Limit: As a result of the indexing rules provided by law, the maximum guarantee limits for single-employer plans that fail in 2025 will be 4.56% higher than the limits that applied for 2024. A table showing the 2025 guarantee limits for various ages and payment forms is available. The guarantee limits for multiemployer plans are not indexed and have not changed.

2025 Premium Rates: PBGC has determined the premium rates applicable for plan years beginning in 2025 in accordance with the indexing rules provided in section 4006 of ERISA. The Premium Rates web page has been updated accordingly.

2022 Pension Insurance Data Tables Installment: PBGC’s 2022 Pension Insurance Data Tables Installment is now available. The tables summarize information on PBGC’s Single-Employer and Multiemployer Insurance Programs and the defined benefit pension system, which includes time-series data on PBGC’s finances and operations. The data on PBGC-insured defined benefit plans includes information on the number of plan participants, plan funded status, hybrid plans, frozen plans, risk transfer activity and Special Financial Assistance payments. PBGC’s data tables provide a comprehensive, longitudinal source of information on its insurance programs and employer-sponsored defined benefit plans.

First ERISA 4044 Yield Curve now Available: The July 31, 2024 ERISA 4044 Yield Curve is now available on PBGC’s ERISA 4044 Interest Assumption webpage.  This yield curve is used for 4044 calculations where the valuation date is on or after July 31, 2024 and before August 31, 2024.  PBGC will update the Interest Assumption webpage monthly to reflect future yield curves.  For more information, see PBGC’s  “Valuation Assumptions and Methods” Final Rule, issued June 6, 2024.

Solicitation of Nominations for the PBGC Participant and Plan Sponsor Advocate: On July 26, 2024, PBGC announced a solicitation for nominations for the Participant and Plan Sponsor Advocate. The Office of the Advocate works directly with participants in defined benefit plans to ensure that they receive benefits that they are entitled to from PBGC. The Office of the Advocate also assists plan sponsors in resolving disputes and other issues with PBGC. The Advocate works independently of the PBGC Departments and reports directly to the PBGC Board of Directors.

Updated Filing Instructions for 4010 and DB Missing Participants Program: Because assumption changes in its 4044 final rule are used to calculate certain amounts reported in 4010 and Missing Participants Program filings, PBGC has updated the following filing instructions to conform with the regulatory changes:

• 4010 Filing Instructions, and
• DB Missing Participants Program Filing instructions (i.e., instructions for Form MP-100, Form MP-300, and Form MP-400).

The new assumptions are used for calculations where the valuation date is on or after July 31, 2024.

Special Financial Assistance Permissible Investments – Updated Frequently Asked Questions: PBGC has posted two updated SFA frequently asked questions that provide guidance for multiemployer plans that receive SFA. The SFA FAQs explain and provide examples of securities included in large, aggregate U.S Bond index funds that meet the criteria for permissible investment grade fixed income (IGFI) securities. The updated FAQs are also accessible on the SFA Program page under Resources.

Updated Analysis of Single-Employer Partial Pension Risk Transfers: PBGC has posted an update to a 2020 report that analyzed partial risk transfer data reported by single-employer pension plans to PBGC on premium filings. The update includes data reported to PBGC in the 2015 through 2022 plan years, and summarizes the information by year, plan size, industry, plan frozen status, and premium funded ratios.

Valuation Assumptions and Methods Final Rule: On June 6, 2024, PBGC is issuing a final rule amending its regulation on Allocation of Assets in Single Employer Plans to modernize the interest, mortality, and expense assumptions used to determine the present value of benefits for a single employer pension plan ending in a distress or involuntary termination. Those assumptions are also used for certain multiemployer withdrawal liability calculations, 4010 reporting, and for other purposes. There are no notable changes from the proposed rule issued August 18, 2023.

Key assumption changes include moving to a generational approach for mortality and a yield curve approach for interest. A white paper providing additional information on the methodology that will be used to determine the interest assumption is available on pbgc.gov. The revised assumptions apply to calculations where the valuation date is on or after July 31, 2024.

Reporting and Disclosure RFI – Comment Period Extended: The comment period for the request for information (RFI) soliciting public input as the federal government reviews the effectiveness of existing reporting and disclosure requirements for retirement plans, as required by Section 319 of SECURE 2.0, was originally scheduled to close on April 22, 2024. The comment period has been extended 30 days to May 22, 2024. For more information, see the notice published in the Federal Register today.

2021 Pension Insurance Data Tables Installment: PBGC’s 2021 Pension Insurance Data Tables Installment is now available. The tables summarize information on PBGC’s Single-Employer and Multiemployer Insurance Programs and the defined benefit pension system, which includes time-series data on PBGC’s finances and operations. The data on PBGC-insured defined benefit plans includes information on the number of plan participants, plan funded status, hybrid plans, frozen plans, and risk transfer activity. Additional information was added this year regarding Special Financial Assistance payments. PBGC’s data tables provide a comprehensive, longitudinal source of information on its insurance programs and employer-sponsored defined benefit plans.

PBGC’s e-Filing Portal: Earlier today, PBGC launched its new and improved e-Filing Portal. Key changes include a new, more secure, login process and a streamlined look and feel across all applications (e.g., 4010 and reportable event filings, certain multiemployer plan filings, SFA applications). For additional information, including information about who to contact with questions, please see: e-Filing Portal Login.gov FAQs and PBGC’s e-Filing Portal User Guide.

Reporting and Disclosure RFI: On January 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the Department of the Treasury, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and PBGC jointly published a request for information (RFI) soliciting public input as the federal government reviews the effectiveness of existing reporting and disclosure requirements for retirement plans, as required by Section 319 of SECURE 2.0.

As noted in the RFI, a summary of PBGC’s reporting and disclosure requirements is posted on pbgc.gov. EBSA’s January 19, 2024 News Release provides additional information.

Annual Update of Maximum Civil Monetary Penalty: Federal law requires that PBGC amend its civil penalty regulations annually to incorporate an inflation adjustment on the maximum penalty that may be assessed for failure to provide certain required information (e.g., reportable event filings, 4010 filings, certain multiemployer plan notices). Accordingly, PBGC published a final rule amending two regulations (29 CFR parts 4071 and 4302). Although the maximum penalty is increasing, it is uncommon for PBGC to assess this amount. The agency's goal is to encourage compliance. In most cases, when PBGC assesses an information penalty, it is for an amount significantly less than the maximum permitted.

2024 Premium Filing Instructions: The Comprehensive Premium Filing Instructions for 2024 plan years have been approved by OMB and are now available on PBGC's website. My PAA has been updated accordingly and is now ready to accept 2024 filings. In addition to updating My PAA for 2024, the home page has been updated to have a more modern look and feel.