Author Archives: admin

The problem with auto escalation

I worked at a place where employees were passive-aggressive and never said anything about how things bad are, except when they stopped supplying free milk for the coffee machine. That was always my point in my fierce debate on automatic … Continue reading

Posted in Retirement Plans | Leave a comment

You shouldn’t waive your participant rights under an arbitration provision

I’m glad that the Sixth Circuit has joined other Federal appeals courts in stating that arbitration provisions are invalid as a prospective waiver of rights and remedies guaranteed under ERISA. In this recent case, Parker v. Tenneco, the participants claimed … Continue reading

Posted in Retirement Plans | Leave a comment

You should have the plan and valuation at your finger tips

I’m old enough to remember when they would do ads for the Yellow Pages and they told you should let your finger do the walking. When getting ready for that Internal Revenue Service audit, you may not need to let … Continue reading

Posted in Retirement Plans | Leave a comment

Great distribution needs a good product

If you have a great product, but lousy distribution, you’re not going to do well. Yet the same thing is on the flip side if you have great distribution, but a lousy product. Whether it’s a pooled employer plan, a … Continue reading

Posted in Retirement Plans | Leave a comment

If you’re consistently losing clients, you should look in the mirror

There is always that line that you’re hired to be fired. No matter how great you are as a plan provider, you will certainly get fired by a client if you haven’t already. However, if you’re consistently losing clients, it … Continue reading

Posted in Retirement Plans | Leave a comment

Don’t let your business become an HR headache

It’s 2024 and let us face some facts: behavior that might have been tolerated in the 1970s and 1980s isn’t tolerated today. Thankfully, I’ve worked on my own for the last 14 years, so I don’t have to deal with … Continue reading

Posted in Retirement Plans | Leave a comment

I won’t write this article

I write a ton of articles as you may know and I will have advisors contacting me and suggesting some topic titles. I have adapted some of these suggestions, but there is one article idea that I had to turn … Continue reading

Posted in Retirement Plans | Leave a comment

The end of forfeitures to reduce contributions is inevitable

Recently had a client going through an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audit and while talking to an agent, they didn’t disagree with my theory that the idea of being able to reduce employer contributions through forfeitures is something that will … Continue reading

Posted in Retirement Plans | Leave a comment

State mandates will spur private plans

I don’t need studies to tell me that States with mandated SIMPLE IRA programs for employers who don’t have a plan will spur the adoption of private retirement plans. There is no crowd in effect, the fact is that people … Continue reading

Posted in Retirement Plans | Leave a comment

Forfeitures cases will continue until they get thrown out

Federal court cases are a game, like chess. You file a complaint, you fight the inevitable motion to dismiss, and once you survive that, you either settle or take the chances with the case and see if the defendants settle … Continue reading

Posted in Retirement Plans | Leave a comment