It’s that time of year when employers re-evaluate existing pension plans, comparing value and performance, looking for ways to save money. With the recent fee disclosure rules put in place by the U.S Deptartment of Labor requiring greater fee disclosure to participants, many companies may be shopping for a new plan. Researching a 401k plan [...]
Investing in Today’s Markets Requires More 401k Investment Options, Lower Costs We’re in a new age of investing. If the reality check of 2008-2009’s “sky is falling” stock market didn’t help you recognize that, then here is your wake-up call. Say goodbye to the days of “index and forget it” and welcome to the Global [...]
The Role of Fiduciary in Retirement Plans Webster’s defined the word “fiduciary” as: –noun – Law . a person to whom property or power is entrusted for the benefit of another When thinking about your plan you should know the 5 W’s: Who is a fiduciary? What is the significance? When are they acting in [...]
What fee disclosure means for plan sponsors and participants December 14, 2010 | by Robert Alexander Fee Disclosure Background – The Problem: For years the retirement plan industry has been waiting for the updated regulations on new fee disclosure requirements. Why? Because current requirements have become outdated, not providing enough guidance as to what types [...]
New Comparability Plans Is there a large age gap between the owners and employees in your company? As an owner, do you want to make additional profit sharing contributions to your account? If so, you may want to consider looking at amending your current 401(k) plan to add a feature that allows for the skewing [...]
by Steve Dix, QKA As the market rebounds from the lows of 2009 I find participants who were so eager to bail out of the market a year ago are now throwing money at mutual funds as if they have forgotten the pain of the last bear market. Is it true that history repeats itself [...]
This 6 minute video was designed the educate 401k Plan Participants and 401k Plan Sponsors on the advantages and disadvantages of taking a loan from their 401k plans.
A lot of clients have asked me whether they can hold the mortgage on their house or a business property inside of their IRA or 401k plan. This is an interesting question, especially in light of the ultra low interest rate that the Fed is forcing upon us to help bail out the housing industry. [...]
In plain terms, with a Traditional IRA the plan participant makes a tax deductible contribution, meaning the deposit in the traditional IRA isn’t taxed. The deposit and it’s earnings grow tax free for the life of the account. For example: John is age 32 and his total salary for the year is $35,000. John deposits [...]
We are asked frequently what the maximum contribution limits are for an IRA. This depends on the tax year in which the contribution is made. Whether you are making contributions to a Traditional IRA or a Roth IRA, the contribution may not exceed the maximum contribution limit or 100 percent of the taxable compensation for [...]
Simplified Employee Pension Plans (SEP) are retirement plans designed for small companies or the self-employed meaning any type of business or professional practice with few employees. They are similar to SIMPLE plans in that SEPs offer tax-deferred investing, require minimal paper work and are relatively inexpensive to administer and run. Advantages: A SEP is simple [...]
Many potential clients have asked about SIMPLE reirement plans. Below, I will explain them in simple to understand language. SIMPLE stands for “Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees” (SIMPLE). It was set up to provide a retirement plan for companies with 100 or fewer employees. It is designed for small companies and for the self-employed, [...]
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