Annual Funding Notice
(Single-Employer Defined Benefit Plan)

Summary

Use this template to satisfy the annual funding notice requirement under Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) § 101(f) for a single employer defined benefit plan subject to ERISA Title IV for plan years beginning after December 31, 2023. This template includes practical guidance, drafting notes, and alternate and optional clauses. Update alert: This template has been updated to reflect substantial changes to the annual funding notice rules pursuant to the SECURE 2.0 Act, (Pub. L. No. 117-328, Div. T), effective for notices for plan years beginning after December 31, 2023. For guidance on these changes, see Department of Labor, Field Assistance Bulletin 2025-02. For updated model language see FAB 2025-02 Appendix 1 (single employer plans) and FAB 2025-02 Appendix 2 (multiemployer plans). ERISA Section 101(f) (29 U.S.C. § 1021(f)) generally requires plans covered by the ERISA Title IV insurance program to provide an annual notice regarding the plan's funded status to interested parties. Final regulations providing guidance regarding on annual funding notice requirements are found in 80 Fed. Reg. 5,625 (Mar. 4, 2015). Those regulations, however, do not reflect changes to ERISA § 101(f) made by Section 343 of the SECURE 2.0 Act (Pub. L. No. 117-328, Div. T), effective for plan years beginning after December 31, 2023. Initial guidance on those changes is found in DOL, Field Assistance Buletin 2025-02 (FAB 2025-02). The template is based on model notice language available in Appendix 1 of FAB 2025-02, which plan administrators may rely upon pending further guidance from the DOL (unless additional information is required pursuant to ERISA Section 101(f)). The template also includes an optional model supplement regarding funding stabilization measures that should be included with annual funding notices for single employer plans that do not meet certain funding criteria for each plan year that begins before January 1, 2034 (most recently extended under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)). The supplement reflects amendments to the plan funding rules under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014 (HATFA), the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, and the IIJA. See DOL, Field Assistance Bulletin 2015-01. Notice recipients include participants and beneficiaries, relevant labor organizations, employers obligated to make contributions to a multiemployer plan, and the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC), which oversees ERISA Title IV. However, notice to the PBGC may be disregarded unless plan liabilities exceed plan assets by more than $50 million. 29 C.F.R. § 2520.101-5(a)(2), (j). Large plans must furnish the notice by the 120th day following the end of the plan year to which the notice relates (i.e., April 30 for calendar year plans). Small plans (i.e., those having 100 or fewer participants throughout the notice plan year) have until the due date, with extensions, of the plan's Form 5500 Annual Return/Report filed with the DOL. ERISA § 101(f)(3) (29 U.S.C. § 1021(f)(3)); 29 C.F.R. § 2520.101-5(d). Notices may be provided by mail or, if certain requirements are met, electronically to certain participants and beneficiaries. For information about providing the annual funding notice in electronic form, see Electronic Disclosure Rules (ERISA Safe Harbors). When providing notice to the PBGC, single-employer plans may e-mail the annual funding notice to single-employerAFN@pbgc.gov, or send it to: PBGC; ATTN: Single-Employer AFN Coordinator; 1200 K Street, NW, Suite 270; Washington, DC 20005-4026. Special rules apply in the context of a merger or consolidation of two or more plans, including additional content requirements not included in this template. In such cases, the plan administrator of the successor plan is obliged to provide the annual funding notice for the plan year in which the event occurs. Additional information to incorporate in the notice includes the effective date of the merger or consolidation, an explanation of the event, and the name and plan number of each plan involved. 29 C.F.R. § 2520.101-5(a)(3). Note that any plan subject to and satisfies the annual funding notice requirement under ERISA Section 101(f) is relieved from any requirement to furnish a summary annual report for the plan to participants and beneficiaries pursuant to ERISA § 104(b)(3) (29 U.S.C. § 1024(b)(3)). For more information about the annual funding notice requirement, see Employee Benefits Law § 8.09. For a model funding notice to be used for a multiemployer plan, see Annual Funding Notice (Multiemployer Defined Benefit Plan). For a listing of notifications to participants, see ERISA Retirement Plan Notices Resource Kit.