401(k) Solutions

May 1, 2019—401(k) plan sponsors can benefit from knowing three simple insurance facts.  This can help keep sponsors compliant, eliminate potential reporting errors that could trigger a DOL audit, and cover their defense if charged with imprudent plan management.  Given that there’s so much for employers with company retirement plans to keep track of, these simple facts often are either unknown or forgotten . . . with plan sponsor fiduciaries exposed to potential liability.

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Signing the IRS Form 5500 marks the administrative end of a retirement plan year for most plan sponsors.  But don’t be tempted by your nearness to the “finish line.”  Look carefully before you sign.  Inaccuracies on a Form 5500 could trigger a knock on your door from the IRS or the US Department of Labor with a request to review your organization’s 401(k) plan!

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March 7, 2019 - How would you rank your 401(k) plan in being the best it can be to meet your organization’s and your employees’ needs?  Do you know where to start? 

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February 7, 2019—Plan sponsors: Do you know whether your organization’s 401(k) is as good as it could be?

• Does it include the best possible funds, and are your employees offered professional investment management to help them meet their retirement goals?
• Is your plan designed with the features that make 401(k) plans most valuable both to employees and organizations?
• Have you taken advantage of ERISA safe harbors to reduce your fiduciary risk?
• Is your plan easy to administer and do you understand ERISA’s regulations?
• Are you aware all plan fees and know they are reasonable?

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Retirement sponsors know it: while others are ringing in the new year, January is a time for 401(k) plan administrators to assemble, scrutinize and validate prior-year data for plans with a December 31 year-end date. Diligent information scrubbing is important. “Clean” data will result in accurate testing and tax filing. A lack of attention to detail can result in tax-filing errors, the need for voluntary corrections, regulatory audits, and – worst-case – plan repayments, fines and penalties.

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December 6 - There are good times and bad times to be noticed.  Most 401(k) plan sponsors don’t want to be noticed (and then investigated) by the U.S. Department of Labor. But employers need to provide notices to employees as they become eligible to join a 401(k) plan . . . or face potential employee complaints and DOL investigation.

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November 1, 2018 — It’s an important time of year for most 401(k) plan sponsors: the time to give notice . . . to participants . . . as required by the U.S. Department of Labor. When I say “most,” I’m talking about the sponsors of plans with a December 31 year-end. (For other sponsors, file this blog and revisit it two months prior to your plan’s year-end.)

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October 5, 2018 - Are you getting all you can out of your company’s 401(k) plan?

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September 6, 2018 — It’s attainable – employers can reduce the financial stress of employees and help them reach retire-ability – to the benefit of employees and to enhance the profitability and productivity of the companies they work for.

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