I\u2019ve spent nearly three decades working with retirement plans, and one thing has become painfully obvious.<\/p>\n
Almost every operational failure starts with one word:<\/p>\n
Assume.<\/p>\n
Someone assumed payroll was withholding correctly.<\/p>\n
Someone assumed another employee sent the notice.<\/p>\n
Someone assumed the plan document allowed it.<\/p>\n
Someone assumed HR handled the eligibility calculations.<\/p>\n
Someone assumed accounting deposited the deferrals.<\/p>\n
Nobody checked.<\/p>\n
Retirement plan administration isn\u2019t difficult because the rules are impossible to understand. It\u2019s difficult because people convince themselves someone else has already handled it.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s how missed deferrals happen.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s how incorrect employer contributions get allocated.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s how participants get left out of the plan.<\/p>\n
Every correction I\u2019ve ever worked on started with an assumption that turned out to be wrong.<\/p>\n
Successful plan providers build systems that don\u2019t rely on assumptions. They use checklists. They document procedures. They require a second review. They ask questions even when they think they know the answer.<\/p>\n
Experience helps, but experience without verification is just confidence.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve learned that \u201ctrust but verify\u201d isn\u2019t just good advice. It\u2019s an operational philosophy.<\/p>\n
The providers that consistently avoid expensive mistakes aren\u2019t necessarily smarter than everyone else.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re simply less willing to assume.<\/p>\n
Before every filing, every payroll, every amendment, and every compliance project, someone should ask one simple question:<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do we know that\u2019s correct?\u201d<\/p>\n
That question has probably prevented more operational failures than any software program ever will.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve spent nearly three decades working with retirement plans, and one thing has become painfully obvious. Almost every operational failure starts with one word: Assume. Someone assumed payroll was withholding correctly. Someone assumed another employee sent the notice. Someone assumed … Continue reading