Jon Schultze
Partner
Practice Areas
- ERISA and Employee Benefits
- Executive Compensation
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Retirement Plans
Biography
Jon Schultze joined the Wagner Law Group in 2003 and has served as a partner since 2007, specializing primarily in the areas of Employee Benefits and ERISA. Jon advises and represents privately held, publicly traded and tax-exempt clients of all sizes regarding statutory, regulatory, fiduciary, administrative, and operational issues arising out of qualified and non-qualified employee benefit plans and programs and executive compensation agreements.
At The Wagner Law Group, Jon oversees the firm's qualified retirement plan area, which includes ensuring that our clients' retirement plans conform to legal requirements by reviewing existing plans for statutory, regulatory, and fiduciary compliance, as well as drafting and maintaining the firm's preapproved retirement plan documents. Jon also has extensive experience evaluating the feasibility of various qualified plan designs and revising such designs, representing clients in Internal Revenue Service, Department of Labor, and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation audits, performing due diligence reviews of employee benefit plans and programs in company mergers and acquisitions and establishing and maintaining employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and representing ESOP-owned companies in mergers and acquisitions.
Jon also is responsible for researching complicated employee benefit issues, such as controlled group determinations, plan correction methodologies and plan compliance requirements that constantly change. He routinely analyzes legal and operational plan failures and achieves favorable resolutions through negotiations with the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Labor, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation under their respective correction programs, including distress terminations of defined benefit pension plans.
Prior to joining The Wagner Law Group, Jon was an employee benefits and trusts and estates attorney at a Boston law firm and served as a legal assistant, consultant and administrator at two global consulting firms.
Publications & Media
- Initial Guidance Regarding Trump Accounts – Co-author, 401(k) Advisor, March, 2026
- A Playbook on the IRS’s Final Regulations on the Roth Catch-Up Contribution Requirement under the SECURE 2.0 Act – Co-author, 401(k) Advisor, January, 2026
- Roth Catch-Up ‘Playbook’ Can Guide Advisers Through Compliance – planadviser, October 29, 2025 (PDF)
- An ERISA Journey for ESG via American Airlines By Way of Utah? – Co-author, 401(k) Advisor, May, 2025
- IRS Issues Interim Guidance on Matching Contributions Made on Account of Qualified Student Loan Repayments – Co-author, 401(k) Advisor, October 2024
- What Mandatory Auto-Enrollment IRAs Actually Mean – Co-author, 401(k) Specialist, October 16, 2021 (PDF)
- Impact of the Economic Downturn on Single Employer Defined Benefit Pension Plans – Co-panelist with Stephen Wilkes, May 7, 2020, 1:00 PM (ET) –
- Impact of the Economic Downturn on Defined Contribution Plans – Co-panelist with Stephen Wilkes, The Wagner Law Group Free Webinar, May 4, 2020, 1:00 PM (ET) –
- Protecting Yourself: Private Determination Letters, Insurance, and Indemnification – Co-presenter with Roberta Watson at NCEO’s Fall ESOP Festival, October 3, 2017, at the Grand Hyatt, Tampa Bay, FL
- Partial Plan Terminations of Qualified Plans, The ASPPA Journal, Winter 2010
Television Appearances
- Discussing November 2, 2021 Law Alert by Barry Salkin and Susan Rees, November 16, 2021 (PDF)
- Service Provider Collaboration and the DOL’s Cybersecurity Guidance – Susan Rees and Barry Salkin, November 5, 2021 (PDF)
Education
- Boston University School of Law, Boston, Massachusetts
- J.D. - 05/1996
- Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut
- B.A., Bachelor of Arts - 05/1987
- Major: Economics
Bar Admissions
- Massachusetts, 1996
Professional Associations
- Massachusetts Bar Association, Member
- Boston Bar Association, Member
Past Positions
- Maselan & Jones, P.C., 1996 to 2003
- Watson Wyatt Worldwide, Legal Assistant, 1989 to 1995
- Kwasha HR Solutions (PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP), Account Supervisor, 1987 to 1988
Law Alerts
IRS Issues Important Guidance with respect to Required Minimum Distribution Regulations
By Jon Schultze and Barry Salkin The SECURE Act made significant revisions to the required minimum distribution rules under Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) Section 401(a)(9) that apply to defined contribution and 403(b) plans, individual retirement accounts and...