Posted by: 0 in vantageblog, retirement plan, qualified plan, Prudent expert, plan sponsor, plan compliance, participation rate, investment education, fiduciary responsibility, Fee disclosure, enrollment meetings, 401(k) plan on
Jan 27, 2010
“Obama-Save” (as opposed to Obama-Care)
On Monday, January 25, 2010, the White House released a fact sheet on their Middle-Class Task Force initiatives. The fact sheet has few details, but there is a great summary of the retirement-related initiatives here on PlanSponsor.com. I have a number of thoughts and concerns about these initiatives that I’ll outline below.
Let me just say up front: commission-based investment advisors and insurance product sellers (and maybe Mr. Biden’s Middle Class Taskforce) will NOT like my viewpoint … but that’s too bad! My company is about helping Plan Sponsors and their Participants do the right thing, the right way … period. Figure out how to line up with that philosophy and we won’t have a problem.
Posted by: 0 in vantageblog, retirement plan, retirement audits, qualified plan, Prudent expert, plan sponsor, plan compliance, partial plan termination, named fiduciary, IRS audit, Form 5500, fiduciary responsibility, fiduciary liability, ERISA audit, eligible participants, DOL audit, audited financial statements, 401(k) plan on
Nov 3, 2009
We’ve passed the extended filing deadline for 2008 Form 5500’s by a couple of weeks now. So you can check that task off of your list until next year. But I want to ask you a serious question …
Did you read it?!?
I mean did you really read it before filed it? Or were you cutting the filing deadline so close that when you got the final package in your hand you just put it in the mail to get it out the door? (Been there, done that ...)
When now President Obama was campaigning last fall, the picture for the 401(k) was even worse, with hints of “free” withdrawals, nationalized retirement programs, and other ideas to kill the 401(k). Now he just wants to “tweak” retirement savings with the intent of encouraging worker savings over spending, and … wait for it … thereby reducing the trade deficit … really?!?
Interestingly, the proposed changes are largely “administrative” (read “a mess for employer-sponsors and the industry") and don’t require Congressional approval. Does he just want to move quickly, or is he concerned that Congressional hearings on the matter would shed too much light on the unintended consequences of his changes? Just wondering …
Let’s take a look at what President Obama proposed Labor Day weekend and talk about what the impact of these changes mean to employee retirement savings, employer plan sponsors, and the retirement industry.
Posted by: 0 in vantageblog, retirement plan, retirement audits, qualified plan, Prudent expert, plan sponsor, plan expenses, Plan Document, plan compliance, fiduciary responsibility, fiduciary liability, Fee disclosure, Due Diligence, 401(k) plan on
Sep 30, 2009
Benchmark your plan! Benchmark your plan!
Make sure you’re not paying too much!
Make sure it’s competitive!
Make sure it’s compliant!
The pressure is on you as the Plan Sponsor to make sure the retirement plan you’re providing for your employees is the best it can be. You know you need to benchmark your plan, but you’re not sure HOW.
Here are a few options to consider:
I had a conversation recently with an HR professional whose company has suffered significant layoffs in the last year. As we discussed their situation – a construction related industry with projects drying up – she indicated they had 1,200 employees this time last year and now had only about 700.
Being a retirement plan geek, I asked if they had fully vested those people they’d laid off since it sounded like they had a partial plan termination in their 401(k). She paused for a moment, and then said that their TPA hadn’t said anything to them about it. She said she didn’t think they’d actually hit the 50% mark. As a good little consultant, I told her I’d send her some information on partial plan terminations, but I thought it was 20% reduction over a 1 year period. She looked grim.
I did some quick research and found some resources for her regarding partial plan termination related to workforce reductions. I’ve linked all of the references for additional information. Based on what she told me, it certainly seems like they may have partial plan termination for their 401(k).
Posted by: 0 in vantageblog, retirement audits, recordkeeper, qualified plan, plan sponsor, Plan Document, plan compliance, named fiduciary, IRS audit, fiduciary responsibility, fiduciary liability, Due Diligence, DOL audit on
Sep 15, 2009
How’s your Due Diligence file look? If the IRS or DOL came in tomorrow, would you have all of the documents related to your plan in one central location, and organized for easy retrieval? No? You need to make a project out of this and get organized!
All Plan Sponsors should maintain a central due diligence file to uphold your fiduciary responsibility. It also comes in handy at audit time – both annual ERISA audits and in the unfortunate event of an IRS or DOL audit.
So what is a Fiduciary Due Diligence File and what’s in it? A Fiduciary Due Diligence File is a central repository for all current documents associated with the Plan. It includes documentation of any actions taken on the Plan, current testing results, sample communications, committee minutes, investment fund prospectuses, and much more. We have a checklist on our site to help you get organized.
