Monthly Archives: January 2020

Yeah, that won’t work

I always say that the retirement plan business is relationship-driven. It’s a business built on trust and it’s built on time. One of my dear friends in this business is James Holland, an advisor based in North Carolina. We started … Continue reading

Posted in Retirement Plans | Leave a comment

Watch those social media posts

I was a little irritated when a person from my community was appointed to an elected position because of a vacancy. I never met the man, but I’m a little disgusted by him because of his past posts on Facebook. … Continue reading

Posted in Retirement Plans | Leave a comment

Make Sure Plan Sponsors Have Those Hardship Changes In Place

I was an attorney for a third party administrator (TPA) in 2007 and one of our plan administrator said that a specific 401(k) plan we were the TPA for had a 7 year graded vesting schedule for matching contributions. The … Continue reading

Posted in Retirement Plans | Leave a comment

Don’t make bad hires

It was clear by the time that Carlos Beltran was interviewing for the Mets manager job that he was somehow involved with the Houston Astros being accused of stealing signs. I don’t know what Carlos Beltran told General manager Brodie … Continue reading

Posted in Retirement Plans | Leave a comment

The SECURE Act doesn’t change one big problem for MEPs

While I loved the fact that pooled employer plan (PEP) is an option as a multiple employer plan (MEP) under the SECURE Act, the problem is that one huge problem concerning MEPs remains and can’t be fixed by law. It’s … Continue reading

Posted in Retirement Plans | Leave a comment

Push those tax credits

When prospecting potential clients that are considering a new 401(k) plan, push those tax credits if they qualify. The SECURE Act made some significant changes and upgrades, that they should be considered and discussed. For 2020, the credit is now … Continue reading

Posted in Retirement Plans | Leave a comment

There is a difference between TPAs

In any service industry, the quality of service and price can be far and wide. While people say that I focus way too much on the workings on the third-party administration (TPA) business, I have more experience in that field … Continue reading

Posted in Retirement Plans | Leave a comment

WealthPRIME has a winner with their software

As an ERISA attorney, I get asked to review new retirement plan tools and plan provider marketing tools. If the product is crap or a complete copy of what is already out there, I’m not going to recommend it. WealthPRIME … Continue reading

Posted in Retirement Plans | Leave a comment

Northrop Grumman has to shell out $12.4 settlement in 401(k) case

Northrop Grumman Corp. agreed on a tentative settlement regarding their 401(k) plan by offering to pay $12.4 million. The plaintiffs in the case accused the company and its fiduciaries of allowing “unreasonable” record-keeping fees. They contended that the fiduciaries failed … Continue reading

Posted in Retirement Plans | Leave a comment

Don’t forget that DB restatement date

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has established a process that requires all retirement plan sponsor who have adopted a pre-approved retirement plan to restate their plans once every six years to reflect changes in the Internal Revenue Code and IRS … Continue reading

Posted in Retirement Plans | Leave a comment