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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...
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...
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...
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...
Most 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,...
When 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...
There 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...
Your 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...
It’s a common story – business owners put everything into their businesses for years before being in a financial position to put real money away for retirement. Once they’re ready to really get going, we can suggest a number of retirement plan designs and individual...
When we talk about 401k type retirement plans we sometimes focus on the contributions made by employees that are ALWAYS immediately vested. In other words, it's THEIR money and they can always withdraw it without forfeiting ANY- subject to IRS rules about early...
As a financial advisor, you know that the people who exercise control and authority over the management of a retirement plan’s assets are fiduciaries. So are professionals who provide investment advice with respect to those assets. In most cases, plan sponsors...
There are many industry stats about 401k “sales.” Perhaps you have your own. It’s natural to talk in terms of lead generation and sales funnels and qualifying questions and, of course, closing. But, when you get down to it, it’s not really so much about generating...