Download The Action DocYou know the expression - it’s not a one-size-fits-all-world. We’re different. From the foods we eat, to the cars we drive, to the places we go on vacation. And it’s also true when it comes to 401k plans. Ask two company owners what their’s looks like and you might get two different answers. It happens for a good reason - they may understand it differently and in fact, they may have very different plans. It’s no wonder really since there are s...

In the retirement plan business, we naturally focus on helping clients accumulate wealth. But at some point we turn our attention from accumulation to decumulation. After all, everyone will reach the age at which they no longer contribute to their accounts and begin to withdraw money from them to sustain their lifestyles beyond their working years.

At a glance, compliance tests assure that every retirement plan is producing a meaningful benefit to rank and file employees and that it demonstrates a level of fairness in the benefits those same employees get as compared to the benefits achieved by owners and other highly compensated employees. While it's not your responsibility to oversee these tasks, we think it's important to keep in mind that data requests and compliance tests are part of how clients experience their retirement pla...

In some ways you can divide clients into two groups - those who are primarily motivated by lowest cost and those who seek value. That doesn’t necessarily align nicely with retirement plan benchmarking since it’s much easier to compare and report things that are more easily quantified than things like expertise and quality and the care of consulting that we deliver together.

Everyday companies large and small make decisions to combine forces. In fact, in 2017, more than 15,000 companies announced a merger or an acquisition. And it probably won’t surprise you, but M&A activity spans all major industry sectors and nearly all geographies. For some, it’s a strategy for growth. For others, it’s a defensive move to survive as markets and business requirements change.

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act known as "ERISA" regulates 401k and most other types of employee benefit plans. Under ERISA, anyone who handles plan funds must be covered by a fidelity bond. The bond protects the PLAN from losses that may result from fraudulent or dishonest acts. Here are some important things to know about Fidelity Bonds. An ERISA Fidelity Bond is not the same thing as Fiduciary Liability Insurance.

Download The Action DocMost of us live in homes that were not custom-designed for us. We adapt to them rather than expect them to be optimized to how we like to live. Most retirement plans are sold the same way. Companies buy something off the shelf that was intended for a generic audience, but not necessarily ideally suited for them. The irony is that while these plans are sold as cost-efficient, they often wind up costing their buyers a great deal in the long run because of lost tax savings or...

Download The Action DocWhen it comes to the administration of retirement plans, most TPAs can execute the work pretty competently. And while there are differences in quality of process and internal expertise, most of this is technical work that happens behind the curtain. The result is that the vast majority of advisors, and clients for that matter, don’t generally see or perceive these differences.Where we really differentiate are in three important areas you and your clients DO see and e...

Download The Action DocThere are some things that we’re happy to buy right off the rack. After all, mass production usually means consistency and cost-savings. On the other hand, when we do buy off the shelf, we compromise on individual choice and sometimes flexibility in getting the exact qualities and features we want. In retirement plan terms, that can be a good way to think about the difference between a bundled solution and an unbundled solution.In a bundled approach, the client typic...

 Download The Action DocYour clients are familiar with the idea of an audit on their personal or corporate tax return, but they may not be familiar with an audit of their qualified retirement plan. There are two broad categories of plan audits. Today, we’ll focus quickly on two groups of plans that the Department of Labor requires to have financial statement audits by an independent qualified public accountant, or CPA.These audits are based on a plan’s participant count or if th...