• You are required to offer your employees your 401k plan at the point of eligibility and each open enrollment period thereafter as long as they are employed by you. Failure to do so could make you liable for fines and penalties.

• If your eligible participants wish to take advantage of the 401k benefit along with your company match provision they can do so by electing to make deferrals directly from their payroll check. Deferrals can be designated to be pretax or Roth after-tax depending on your particular plan design. A separate 401k account must be established on their behalf.

• Payroll contributions must be deposited timely and consistently. We recommend that employee contributions be deposited no longer than 7 days from pay date.

• Once enrolled, the employees make their own investment choices. It is important to provide a suitable menu of investment choices to accommodate a wide range of individual objectives such as age, risk tolerance, and asset classes. The investment menu should be monitored on a regular basis.

• The process of managing eligibility and investment choices is ongoing for the life of your 401k plan.

• Dedicated Implementation Specialist to get investment accounts opened.

• Enrollment meetings both initially and for the life of your 401k plan.

• Dedicated Customer Service Representative ongoing for the life of your 401k plan.

• Individual participant accounts and websites:

  • View and manage changes to your investments.

  • Run reports and statements.

  • Keep beneficiary information.

  • Manage rollovers and roll in’s.

• Quarterly plan-level investment reviews and monitoring

• Quarterly participant Communications:

  • Investment Guides to help with investment choices.

  • Participant newsletters and video’s.

  • Direct access to advice from a financial advisor.

• Access to low-cost institutional share class investment choices.

• Fiduciary liability coverage with our 338 Investment menu.

• Participant notice generation.

  • 404(a)(5) fee disclosure.

• Assistance with Rollovers and Roll In’s

• Owner/Plan Administrator account access.

  • ACH payroll file contributions.

  • Manage participant census and eligibility.

  • Run reports needed for annual 5500 filing.

What if none of my eligible employees wish to participate?

Eligible employees may decline to participate in your 401k. In this case, it is important for you to have the employee sign a waiver form to keep this on record in their employee file. This must be done for each open enrollment period.

Do I need to participate as an owner?

As an owner, you are not required to participate in your 401k plan although we highly encourage you to do so to have activity in your 401k plan to avoid the appearance of having it sit idle. Having no owner participation and/or eligible employee participation can create a red flag for an audit.

What if I choose a self-directed 401k account set up with a national provider?

This option is available to you and will be your most affordable option. It is our recommendation to avoid this option whereas you get what you pay for. Self-Directed 401k accounts do not offer 401k record keeping of money types such as tracking employee deferrals, company match, Roth, loans, hardships, etc. The full administration of 401k investment accounts is shouldered by the owner/plan sponsor. Also, the employee experience is much different than the typical company sponsored 401k. In some cases, if the employee does not contact the provider their contributions remain in cash until they call to make an investment election.

How long does it take to set up 401k investment accounts?

The typical time to set up 401k investment accounts and enroll eligible participants into the plan is 4 weeks.

Will my payroll provider integrate with the 401k investment accounts?

In almost all cases the answer is no. It is unlikely that your 401k contributions will be automatically uploaded into participant accounts. In some cases, your payroll company will offer this service and charge you accordingly. In most cases, the plan administrator will handle the payroll file upload after each pay period to ACH transfer contributions into the participant’s accounts to your chosen investment account provider.