The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C. Blog

Automatic enrollment is one of the best features of a 401(k) plan especially when it was finally codified into law in 2006. I think it helps participants save for retirement and helps increase participation, which can help with discrimination testing.

The problem with automatic enrollment is when a huge error is made, namely not using the feature that is mandated by the plan document. The problem with the error is that it’s usually not caught quickly, which might cost the employer a lot of money in corrections.

It’s not a matter of using it if you have it. When you have it, you have no choice but to use the provision.

You will hear about how certain retirement plan providers have won awards. Awards are impressive, but sometimes they’re not. You have to be wary as to who gave the award and what the award really means, You also shouldn’t just pick a provider because they won an award.

The best example is my local business newspaper which gave a lifetime achievement award to the former managing attorney for my law firm. The law firm is a big-time advertiser of that newspaper and under this managing attorney’s watch, two offices closed and the firm is down 50% in size. Is the award justified or is it simply a thank you to a long-term advertiser? Probably the latter.

I’ve seen plan providers tout awards that aren’t worth the paper the certificate is printed on. I’ve seen plan providers tout awards I never knew existed. Heck, I could mention that I won the Martin Buskin Award for Excellence in Student Journalism, but that was so 1994 and in college.

So many reasons are there to hire a plan provider, some type of award-winning isn’t one of them.

I have been doing government audits of retirement plans for over 25 years. The technology has changed, and you can fax or email what the agent has requested. The problem that I’ve found with that, is that they’re always losing what you sent.

I have clients forward me the information that I send to the client, and then have the clients print out a duplicate to hand out in an audit. I recently went through an audit where the IRS agent didn’t have the ADP/ACP report that I sent him 6 times, including the information on refunds for ADP failures. He wanted to sock my client with an unnecessary $100,000 Qualified Non-Elective Contribution.

Vestwell has raised $125 million in a Series D fundraising round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.

The funding will also go toward expanding Vestwell’s work on state-savings-program initiatives while creating other savings programs for partners, employers, and savers using Vestwell and for financial institutions using their recordkeeping services as a white label product, the firm noted. Along with Lightspeed, funding came from Fin Capital, Primary Venture Partners, and FinTech Collective, as well as newcomers Blue Owl and HarbourVest, according to Vestwell.

If there is one thing that over time, I’ve realized that people have a problem with the truth.

I probably knew it from a certain time, probably college, that even opinions based on truthful facts can be a dangerous thing for the people that can’t deal with it. The student government at Stony Brook couldn’t deal with it. The folks at my law school who thought everything was wonderful had issues with my truthful opinions that things weren’t so Rory. Same with some jobs and even the retirement plan industry, I remember when an industry spokesperson (since retired) had issues with any provider that criticized the retirement plan industry over the lack of transparency on fees.

We were told when we were young, that we should always speak the truth, yet it’s the truth we speak that can lead us to be ostracized. We can choose to go along with the flow, but the problem is that going with the flow only continues the problems and issues we fight against.

When I used to write the annual article that Paychex and ADP were lousy third-party administrators, I would get a nasty retort from people who worked there. It’s not personal, it’s business, and my experience with these payroll providers as TPAs hasn’t been very good. I remember an angry plan sponsor that used one of them and had received my article from another TPA, wanting to debate me on my article. I have no time for debates and my opinion is my opinion, based on 24 years of experience. A plan sponsor who thinks their payroll provider is doing a great job as a TPA has their own experience.

An advisor commented on my latest article that his experience with these payroll providers was excellent. I simply told him that my experiences weren’t the same. My opinions are shaped by my experiences and I assure you that if my experiences with these payroll providers improve, then my opinion will too.

When I worked for third-party administrators (TPAs), nothing hurt prospecting more than a down stock market. Common sense would dictate that this might be the best time to prospect plan sponsors, but plan sponsors shut off discussions when they see those retirement plan statements,

As a plan provider, I suggest discussions with plan sponsors who are horrified by stock market losses, that fiduciary concerns should make them, more interested in reviewing their plan than when everything in the market is going gangbusters.

My latest article for JDSupra.com can be found here.

Our latest article for JDSupra.com can be found here.

The Carson Group is adding Oakeson Steiner Wealth & Retirement to its network of more than 140 registered investment advisory firms. Hastings, Nebraska-based Oakeson Steiner provides financial planning, overseeing a total of $1.2 billion in client assets. The firm was formerly part of Resources Investment Advisors, a network of advisory firms that OneDigital bought in 2020.

The deal furthers Omaha, Nebraska-based Carson Group’s push into retirement plan advisement, in addition to wealth management. In June, it acquired Northwest Capital Management Inc., an advisory in both spaces. Earlier in the year, Carson announced a partnership with small and midsize retirement plan provider Vestwell so its advisers could offer a defined contribution retirement offering to clients who run businesses.

Oakeson Steiner President and Wealth Adviser Josh Yost and 13 wealth advisers and client services employees will move over to Carson with its network of 9,000 financial professionals globally. Yost will remain sole owner of the firm and lead day-to-day operations. The firms did not disclose details of the deal.

The Carson Group currently manages $31 billion in assets and serves more than 48,000 families among its advisory network of 140+ partner offices.