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ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act)
1974· Legal document or tool
Law or rule (2026)Set by statute, regulation or the agency; numbers change yearly.
The 1974 federal law setting minimum standards for private-sector pensions, 401(k)s and employer health plans.
See it on the Personal Finance & Estate map →How it works
Signed by President Gerald Ford on Labor Day 1974, after failures like Studebaker's 1963 plant closing left thousands of workers with little of their promised pensions. ERISA sets rules on who must be covered, how fast benefits vest, how pensions are funded, and fiduciary duty: plan managers must act solely for participants, prudently, with reasonable fees. It created the PBGC and IRAs. It doesn't cover government or church plans. Plan assets are largely shielded from creditors.
Why it matters for you
It is why a private pension or 401(k) is protected from employer misuse and most creditors, and why participants can sue over excessive fees.
Rules, limits and sources (2026)
Public Law 93-406; enforced by the Labor Department's EBSA, the IRS and the PBGC; Supreme Court cases such as Tibble v. Edison International (2015).
Watch out for
How far ERISA overrides state law (on health plans, beneficiaries after divorce) keeps generating Supreme Court cases.
Connections (3)
▸ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) sets federal rules for Defined-benefit pensionLaw or rule (2026)
How they connect
ERISA requires private pensions to cover eligible workers, vest benefits on set schedules, fund promises by actuarial rules, offer spousal survivor benefits, and send regular statements. Its Title IV created the PBGC to insure benefits if a plan fails.
When it applies
Signed September 2, 1974, by President Ford; strengthened by the 1984 Retirement Equity Act and the 2006 Pension Protection Act.
The rule
Public Law 93-406 and Labor Department regulations; each plan's yearly Form 5500 shows its funding level.
Watch out for
Whether funding rules are strict enough is debated; failing multiemployer union plans needed a federal rescue worth tens of billions in 2021.
▸ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) is enforced by U.S. Dept. of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Admin.Law or rule (2026)
How they connect
ERISA's Title I sets fiduciary, reporting, disclosure and claims rules for private-sector plans and gives EBSA the power to investigate and sue. The IRS enforces ERISA's tax-qualification side and the PBGC its pension insurance. Participants can also sue directly, and EBSA often files friend-of-court briefs supporting them.
When it applies
Signed by President Ford in 1974; the Labor Department's benefits office got its EBSA name in 2003.
The rule
ERISA Secs. 502 and 504 authorize Labor investigations and lawsuits; EBSA's yearly enforcement fact sheets list cases and recoveries.
Watch out for
How strictly courts read ERISA's fiduciary duties in 401(k) fee lawsuits keeps shifting; the Supreme Court's 2025 Cunningham v. Cornell ruling made such suits easier to bring.
▸ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) requires spousal consent for Beneficiary designations (they override your will)Law or rule (2026)
How they connect
For 401(k)s and pensions, federal law makes the spouse the default beneficiary. Naming anyone else, such as a child or a trust, requires the spouse's written consent, witnessed by a notary or plan representative. IRAs lack this federal rule, though California community property gives a spouse rights there too.
When it applies
Added to ERISA by the Retirement Equity Act of 1984; applies to employer plans nationwide, including in California.
The rule
IRC Secs. 401(a)(11) and 417 set the consent rules; Egelhoff (2001) confirmed ERISA plan forms override conflicting state law.
Watch out for
A prenuptial agreement can't waive these rights because consent must come from a spouse; whether a later waiver was valid is a recurring dispute.