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Salute to ERISA. 50 Years and Counting!

August 20, 2024 (4 min read)

Few people today recall the 1963 failure of automaker Studebaker and the resulting loss of workers’ pensions. It started the buzz about the state of pension law in the United States with many issues to be resolved. For example, before ERISA, employers could adopt plans in which short breaks in service resulted in a loss of accumulated vesting service. This forced affected participants to start over in accumulating retirement benefits. With many plans, participants did not vest until they reached their full retirement age. After Studebaker, it took 10 more years to get a bill introduced in Congress—which was finally signed on Labor Day, September 2, 1974. Hear more about the evolution of ERISA from video author Jeffrey Mamorsky of Cohen & Buckmann, P.C.

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Related Content

  • ERISA at 50: Fiduciary Protections Video
    Hear more about ERISA’s development. ERISA was almost written to require independent fiduciaries to safeguard pension plan assets. Instead, the prohibited transaction rules were developed to allow employers to designate a fiduciary or fiduciaries to invest plan assets and complete other fiduciary functions, subject to rules requiring that their activities be for the “exclusive benefit” of participants and beneficiaries.
  • ERISA at 50: Impact of ERISA and Major Amendments Video
    Discover how ERISA has grown through the years. Since its enactment in 1974, as generally effective for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 1975, this law has expanded at a brisk pace. Amendments often are to both the Internal Revenue Code and ERISA, particularly when they affect qualified retirement plans.
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    Learn more about ERISA and its application. ERISA covers welfare benefit plans such as medical, group life, and disability plans. But the drafters of ERISA didn't focus on them except for disclosures, like requiring a summary plan description. Today, after COBRA, HIPAA, the Affordable Care Act, and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (which includes the No Surprises Act), ERISA has expanded rights and disclosures to plan participants in employer-provided employee benefit plans. The existing fiduciary rules also apply to them.

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