Blog
20 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...
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401(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...
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SECURE 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...
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2020 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...
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What 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...
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Our 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,...
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Where 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...
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Your 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...
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Building 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....
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Raising 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...
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3(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...
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3 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....
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Understanding 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...
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The 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...
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What'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...
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5 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...
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5 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...
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Harnessing 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...
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Are 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...
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Top 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...
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Is 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...
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Match 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...
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Investing 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...
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Helping 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...
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4 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...
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The 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...
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Preparing 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...
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Managing 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...
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4 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...
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Striving 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...
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How 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,...
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What 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.
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Am 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
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Motivated Employers Wanted
To assist your employees and prepare for a meaningful retirement, we offer four powerful ideas.
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Growing 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.
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