For plan sponsors, managing a 401(k) plan can be complex and time consuming. Some plan sponsors hire outside advisors to help the plan stay compliant with the various IRS and ERISA regulations. When hiring outside advisors, many plan sponsors are unaware of the added benefits of hiring an investment fiduciary as opposed to a broker to manage their plan investments. Each has a unique set of regulatory standards governing their behavior which can affect the range and quality of services offered to the plan. Below are a few key differences between brokers and fiduciaries: Standard of Care: Brokers: Are held to a suitability standard. Under this standard, brokers can only recommend investments that they reasonably believe are appropriate at the time of the recommendation. Fiduciaries: Are held to stricter rules, known as the fiduciary standard of care. This standard legally requires the advisor to act in the best interest of the…

Many business owners, principals, and executives are not aware of the tremendous personal and corporate tax benefits that can be achieved through the proper retirement plan design. Most retirement plans are designed for administrative efficiency – not for tax planning purposes. As a result, most businesses are not aware of the options available for designing a tax-efficient plan. Retirement plans can offer considerable flexibility that can provide tax benefits for: Owners, executives, principals, and family members. Plans can be designed to help these individuals reduce personal income taxes, and to grow significant assets while deferring taxes on those assets. Retirement plan assets are also exempt from the claims of creditors. Your organization Contributions to a retirement plan can reduce taxes at the entity level. Retirement benefits can also provide a powerful employee recruitment and retention tool. Plans where employer contributions are subject to a vesting schedule can help with employee…

As 2021 draws to a close and everyone begins preparing for a new year, employers with qualified retirement plans should review several factors that could affect their plans before moving on to 2022.The fourth quarter presents a perfect opportunity for plan sponsors to take a snapshot of the year’s activities, review potential impact on their retirement plans, and perhaps make some adjustments. Employers should also revisit corporate activities such as ownership changes, acquisitions, and profit-sharing contributions to understand the potential impact on taxes and plan status – and anticipate how these events may affect their retirement plans in the New Year.Here are seven topics that are helpful to review prior to yearend: Remember to take advantage of available tax credits for adding auto-enrollment features to an existing plan or adopting a new plan during 2021. Small employers (up to 100 employees) can get a new tax credit of up to…

Environmental, Social and Governmental (ESG) Fund Best Practices for Plan Sponsors Socially responsible investing has grown in popularity as investors become more aware of how organizations operate from an environmental, social and governance perspective. Environmental factors may include a company’s carbon output, overall resource consumption and impact to air and water quality. Social factors include the types of business relationships the company maintains and how the organization treats people overall. Structural or governance factors include the level of transparency, conflicts of interest and Board composition. As a result, plan sponsors are considering Environmental, Social and Governmental (ESG) fund options as employee’s interest in ensuring their money has a positive impact on society continues to grow. Rules Surrounding ESG Funds: In December of 2020, the DOL released a rule for plan sponsors when considering Environmental, Social and Governmental (ESG) focused investments as options in their retirement plans. The rule required that…

How Working With a Qualified Plan Advisor Can Improve Your Audit Experience Hiring a quality qualified plan advisor provides many advantages to employers that sponsor a retirement plan. Specifically, one of those advantages is improving your annual qualified plan audit. As each audit season begins, employers often dread having to coordinate with their accounting firm while juggling their day-to-day tasks. The good news is, we have outlined three ways your qualified plan advisor can improve this administrative burden. Quick Access to Information Audits by nature involve many questions and requests for data. In some cases, the information in question is not regularly requested, making it difficult for employers to find. Advisors on the other hand have knowledge of the plan and recordkeeping systems to access certain information quickly, saving valuable time for everyone. Relationship with the Auditor Many advisors develop relationships with various auditing firms. By doing so, the advisor…

Put Your Advisor to the Test Ask these critical questions to test the knowledge of future plan advisors. A knowledgeable plan advisor is an important component in the successful operation of your qualified plan. However, selecting the right candidate requires more than simply reviewing typical Request for Proposal (RFP) responses. RFPs are an important part of the process, but boilerplate questions may draw generalized, high-level responses that reveal few details about a potential advisors’ knowledge. You should make sure the potential advisor possesses broad industry experience and expertise that applies to your unique situation. It only takes a few questions to put them to the test. So, as you consider prospective plan advisors, here are some non-boilerplate questions that you can ask to assess their knowledge. Under what scenario would my plan need a BRF test? Sometimes, plan designs create different benefits for different classes of participants. The BRF (Benefits,…