Blog
Checking In On 2020 Testing
It’s been a hectic year. If you had to furlough or lay off employees, suspend your plan’s safe harbor status, or reduce your match, it’s a good time to revisit the impact on your plan’s 2020 nondiscrimination...
Read MoreMissing Participants: End of the Year Clean Up
Missing participants are former employees who still have an active retirement plan account balance, and as a plan fiduciary, you’re responsible for them. The DOL and IRS are paying more attention to plan sponsors’ efforts...
Read MoreSavings Best Practices
In honor of National Retirement Security Month, we'd like to share 3 tips to help boost savings. Feel free to download and share this piece with your employees.
Read MoreHow a Financial Wellness Program Can Improve Company Culture
Employers recognize that financial stress is taking a toll on their workforce — and their bottom line. As such, growing numbers of companies are offering financial wellness as part of their employee benefits programs. Financial...
Read MoreA Student Loan Repayment Program Can Help You Recruit and Retain Employees
You’re probably pretty busy dealing with the impact of the coronavirus on your organization. But once we return to normal, you’ll be back to dealing with your core issues, like recruiting and retention. Recruiting and...
Read MoreShow All
The Need for Compassionate Communication
Your employees have a lot on their minds these days. We’re in a year with multi-faceted, complex things happening: the COVID-19 crisis, economic instability, market volatility, and the largest civil rights discussion in half a...
Read MoreNew Financial Habits & Resilience in 2020
Resilience noun the ability to be happy, successful, etc. again after something difficult or bad has happened. -Cambridge Dictionary Lately we’ve been thinking a lot about financial resilience: hopeful thoughts about the...
Read MoreWhere to Find Money in Quarantine
Remember when you were told somewhere along the way to save for a rainy day? Well, that day may be now for some of you reading. Just when things were smooth sailing, wham, you may have found yourself with a temporary salary reduction,...
Read More5 Tips for Better Video Meetings
As the world shifts to a work-from-home model, conference room meetings have moved to online video-calling apps. If you’re new to video conferencing, we’re here to help you out, here are 5 tips to help you connect with...
Read MoreCOVID-19 has Throttled the Economy into a Recession. Now What?
During times of extreme economic volatility, questions regarding your retirement plan may come to the forefront. Some of these may include: Increases in request for in-service distributions Issues related to layoffs Suspension or...
Read MoreFive Things Employers Should Consider Before Changing 401(k) Providers
Offering a competitive benefits package, including a top-notch 401(k) plan, is essential for your company to recruit and retain top talent. Today’s workers highly value employer-sponsored retirement plans: 88% of them say that an...
Read More20 Questions to Ask Your Recordkeeper
Your retirement plan recordkeeper should be a valued partner that helps support your plan and participants. It’s important for you to be confident in your recordkeeper and fully understand the value they can deliver for your plan...
Read More401(k) Compliance: The Importance of Good Year-end Data
It’s the first quarter of the year, so you’ve got some important plan compliance deadlines on the horizon. You probably outsource a lot of the compliance legwork to your recordkeeper or TPA (third party administrator), but...
Read MoreSECURE Act and What 401(k) Plan Sponsors Needs To Know
This week, one of the largest changing legislative acts to impact America’s retirement system was signed into effect. The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act – or SECURE Act – has many updates...
Read More2020 Compliance Calendar
Complimentary retirement plan compliance and notice requirements calendar available for download ARP 2020 Compliance Calendar January Provide/Confirm prior year census data Deadline: Sending Form 1099-R to participants who received...
Read MoreWhat are Corrective Distributions and How to Avoid Them Going Forward
Tests – the word alone is enough to make the most studious of us sweat. When placed in the context of 401(k) plans, i.e. determining whether your plan passes non-discrimination tests, anxiety levels can go through the roof! This...
Read MoreOur 401(k) Investments are on the Watchlist. Now What?
Approach, review, document, and decide As a member of your company’s retirement plan committee, if you have recently been informed that one or more of your company’s retirement plan investments are on the Watch List,...
Read MoreWhere Plan Design and Compliance Meet
When it comes to plan design, sponsors sometimes don’t know what they don’t know. Maybe you’re not sure if your plan actually operates in full compliance with its design provisions, or even if you’re using the...
Read MoreYour Guide to 529 Plans
We all have dreams in life – goals we’d like to achieve for ourselves and our loved ones. Like that straight-A student at the head of the class, you achieve these goals by working both hard and smart – including...
Read MoreBuilding a Second Nest Egg | The truth about Health Savings Accounts
A lot of your employees probably don’t understand how much a health savings account (HSA) can help them get set for their medical expenses in retirement. Health-care expenses make up a big part of a retiree’s budget....
Read MoreRaising Financially Aware Kids
The kids are out for the summer and, believe it or not, road tripping and solving the "I'm bored" crisis, are great learning opportunities! Watch this 30-minute presentation we hosted with American Century about raising financially...
Read More3(16), 3(21) and 3(38) Fiduciaries: What’s the Difference?
3(16), 3(21) and 3(38) Fiduciaries: What’s the Difference? If you’re an employer who offers a 401(k) plan for your employees, chances are, you’re a fiduciary to the plan. However, if you’re confused about how to...
Read More3 Keys to Successful Stretch Matches
Most market analysts predict that in the next decade, we’ll see lower stock market returns than we have these past 10 years. So, to end up with enough money at retirement, your participants may need to make larger contributions....
Read MoreUnderstanding 401(k) Loans
The recent enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) makes changes to 401(k) loan repayment options, which should prompt plan sponsors and plan administrators to re-evaluate their existing loan program, processes and...
Read MoreThe Dreaded 401(k) Refund: Corrective Distributions
401K REFUNDS: NOT AS GOOD AS THEY SOUND With tax season in full bloom, many hear the word refund and begin imagining ways to spend this extra money. However, when it comes to 401(k) refunds or corrective distributions...
Read MoreWhat's In Your Fiduciary File?
Ever wonder what documents should be in your retirement plan committee fiduciary file? If the Department of Labor (DOL) were to ever knock on your door, we want you to be prepared! Applying the essential requirements and best practice...
Read More5 Best-Practice Plan Design Features
Good plan design can do a lot of the heavy lifting for you to help your employees save enough for retirement. Historically, sponsors and advisors have spent a lot of time and energy trying to convince employees to enroll, pick sensible...
Read More5 Financial Wellness Lessons Learned
5 Lessons We’ve Learned About Financial Wellness Programs It’s common for employers that compete intensely for talent to have cool workplace perks like ping-pong tables and free lunches. But I think it’s more...
Read MoreHarnessing the Power of Compound Interest
As an employer that sponsors a 401(k) plan, encouraging your participants to make small changes in their spending habits can help them harness the power of compound interest! Download the infographic below to share with your employees...
Read MoreAre your employees making the most of your company match?
More than 1 in 5 employees do not contribute enough to their 401(k) to receive your full employer match.1 Your employees might not fully understand how to take full advantage of it or what they are missing out on. The infographic below...
Read MoreTop 3 Cyber Threats
Cybercrime can be like a natural disaster: no one can stop the hurricane, but preparedness is key to surviving its aftermath. Employers, employees, and service providers play an important role in protecting sensitive plan data. Check...
Read MoreIs Your 401(k) Secure?
Your company’s retirement plan is a valuable benefit that can help you attract and retain the best and brightest talent. Unfortunately, that value is exactly what makes it a tantalizing target for cybercriminals. Security is No...
Read MoreMatch maker, match maker…
In this competitive labor market, a comprehensive and generous benefits package could help you to recruit and retain top talent. When was the last time your company match formula was evaluated? We use LPL Financial’s Plan Design...
Read MoreInvesting Corporate Tax Savings
Investing Corporate Tax Savings Clients have reached out to me recently after reading newspaper stories about large employers that have increased their 401(k) match because of the corporate tax cuts in the new tax-reform law. These...
Read MoreHelping You Create a Repeatable Fiduciary Process
Being a part of your company's retirement plan committee is a big responsibility with some important rules and regs. We want to help you to create a repeatable process for your committee. Take a look at our short video that breaks down...
Read More4 Tips to Help Drive Employee Outcomes
Shortfalls in participant outcomes can dash your employees’ retirement dreams—and end up costing your company a lot of money. If your employees don’t save enough for retirement, they’ll probably need to keep...
Read MoreThe New Deal
Have you benchmarked your recordkeeper lately? The recordkeeping marketplace’s rapidly changing dynamics can offer you a good opportunity to renegotiate your plan’s deal and get significant cost savings. Several changes...
Read MorePreparing your Employees for when they're Ready to Retire
”Harvesting requires different tools than planting." Imagine planting a fruit tree. For the first few years, all you can do is care for and nurture it; it won’t produce any fruit until it’s full-grown. Once those...
Read MoreManaging Debt
Many financial wellness and debt management programs will tell you that the best way to manage debt is to stay out of it in the first place. Unfortunately, this pithy nugget of wisdom doesn’t help the 80% of Americans who are...
Read More4 Reasons to Offer a Financial Wellness Program
Companies of all sizes are always on the prowl for ways to improve productivity, attract and retain top talent, and increase employee engagement. Maybe the answer is simple:reduce stress with Financial Wellness. What is financial...
Read MoreStriving for 90-10-90
Getting employees on track to retire is a lot like herding kittens: everyone wants to go their own way, and it’s difficult to help lead them to where they need to go. Low participation, low deferral rates, and shortsighted...
Read MoreHow Much Does Financial Stress Cost?
AMERICA IS STRESSED | Stress is defined as a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances. While some may thrive in stressful situations,...
Read MoreWhat is my role on the 403(b) retirement committee?
If your non-profit workplace has a 403(b) plan for employees, you may be asked to serve on the committee. In this post, we will explain the basics so you will have a better understanding of your responsibilities.
Read MoreAm I A Plan Fiduciary?
Many plan sponsors seem to be confused about their fiduciary responsibility. We created a quick video to help explain: https://vimeo.com/191650001
Read MoreMotivated Employers Wanted
To assist your employees and prepare for a meaningful retirement, we offer four powerful ideas.
Read MoreGrowing Your Retirement Tree
Learn how 3 steps can enhance your corporate sponsored plan. In our post, we will tell you how you can help your employees as they seek to grow big, strong, and lasting retirement plans.
Read MoreThe Power of Sunlight
How can sunlight boost your plan's growth? Read on as we shed some light on the topic.
Read MoreThe Tree of Retirement Plans
Managing a retirement plan and growing a tree are similar feats. In our next few blog posts, we are going to symbolize how the preparation and education required for growing a tree is similar to getting participants ready for retirement.
Read More