Monthly Archives: October 2024

Missing that deadline to file a Form 5500 is a huge problem. Sometimes people forget even when the Third Party Administrator (TPA) completes it promptly. I’ve had clients not realizing they had a year or two years’ worth of 5500s … Continue reading →

When you start fixing up the house (for me, a never-ending battle) and replacing appliances or items like the front door or the roof (had to fix it again), you realize that the replacements are more energy efficient. Replacing that … Continue reading →

I call this time of the year Retirement Plan Crazy Season where plan sponsors decided to change plan providers to get things changing smoothly on January 1. I call it Crazy Season based on NASCAR’s Crazy Season when drivers and … Continue reading →

When I first started in the retirement plan business in 1998, I worked for a law firm that served as the counsel for a third-party administration (TPA) firm in Syosset, NY. There was an office worker there named Orville. I … Continue reading →

There are those TPA that sell financial products, there are some that sell insurance, and there are those that just administer and record keeping. This story reminds me of another producing TPA that is only a few villages over from … Continue reading →

As Michael Corleone said in the very underrated “The Godfather Part III”, “Just when I want to get out, they keep bringing me back in.” Since 401(k) plans are not subject to the joint and survivor annuity requirements of the … Continue reading →

When I was at law school at American University Washington College of Law, I was the Executive Editor of The American Jurist, which was the student news magazine for my final year of law school. I wasn’t a particularly fond … Continue reading →

The uniqueness of the §3(38) proposition is that the §3(38) fiduciary has discretionary authority, assuming the liability of the fiduciary process from the plan sponsor. It’s a nice proposition because many 401(k) plan sponsors don’t do a job of handling … Continue reading →

Being an ERISA attorney for a couple of third-party administration (TPA) firms when I first started helped me develop a sense of humor because there were too many people I was associated with who had absolutely zero training when it … Continue reading →

When you meet retirement plan sponsors just at different networking events and they find out that you’re a retirement plan provider, they may volunteer that their retirement plan is in perfect shape. As we know as retirement plan providers, they … Continue reading →