On April 25, 2024, the Department of Labor (DOL) published its Retirement Security Rule: Definition of an Investment Advice Fiduciary (the “Retirement Security Rule”), a package of finalized regulations and amendments to several advice-related prohibited transaction exemptions (PTEs), including PTE 2020-02 and 84-24, as well…
It probably seems like 5500 season approaches sooner every year, which means less time to focus on other, more critical parts of your business. Attend this course to learn about how to make the process easier, including tips on small plan vs. large plan filing…
…have. Let’s talk about two of them – namely, things we can address in plan design and things we can communicate to help set expectations. In plan design, our first goal is participation. To that end, auto-enrollment has been proven to be effective in getting…
…easily quantified than things like expertise and quality and the care of consulting that we deliver together. When cost is the primary driver, benchmarking is a pretty straightforward quantitative analysis. When you’re prospecting it’s an offensive strategy as you invite employers to look at potential…
When it comes to retirement plans, there are many ways to distribute a company’s profit sharing contribution. It may be as straightforward as a proportional, or “pro rata,” share to each eligible participant or it can be based on a formula that considers age or…
…many employees fail to make an investment election on their own. This creates a need for a default investment in the lineup. A cash fund has no risk, but also has no growth potential. Other investments may have income or growth potential, but expose a…
…exchange, like the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ or that can be typically purchased from a bank or life insurance company or other regulated entity. Non-qualifying plan assets are investments in things like real estate, coin collections, fine art, a private business or other…
…as number of participants, amount of assets in the plan, distributions made to service providers, and types of investments. Audit Requirements: Once a plan reaches 100 participants, an annual audit must be sent to the DOL along with the Form 5500. Among other things, this…
…roles and responsibilities involve handling funds or other property of the plan. So, a plan fiduciary who has no access to these processes or authority to direct funds would not be required to be bonded. Let’s talk about Coverage Requirements The amount of the required…
…standard of care in managing another’s money or property.” This may seem straightforward. But over the years, legal decisions and guidance from the IRS (and other federal agencies) have given us more detail about what this means in the context of retirement plans. In a…
…a brief article. But the basics are pretty straightforward. In short, rather than retaining full responsibility for current and future pension payments, a plan sponsor may transfer plan assets to an insurance company that will assume payment responsibility going forward. Of course, there are numerous…
…For some, it’s a strategy for growth. For others, it’s a defensive move to survive as markets and business requirements change. Whatever the motivation, there are almost always impacts on retirement benefits. Think about it: companies merge – they both have retirement plans. Now what?…