You would never ask a GP to do your back surgery. Don’t hire a brokerage to administer your company’s 401k plan. When it comes to managing your company’s 401(k) retirement plan, hiring a specialist firm dedicated exclusively to 401(k) administration offers significant advantages over using a generalist advisor or provider. Deep Expertise and Focus 401(k) specialist firms employ teams solely focused on the complex rules, regulations and best practices surrounding workplace retirement plans. This concentrated specialization allows them to stay ahead of constant legal and compliance changes that generalist advisors often miss. Their singular focus drives deeper expertise than generalists splitting

Continue Reading

When 401k retirement plan investors emerge from a difficult year, it’s easy to become fearful that each year to come will deliver the same – or similar results. However, history shows this is seldom the case. In fact, more times than not, the year following a down year in the U.S. capital markets is a positive year. The 2023 year to come is promising to be a year marked with uncertainty. An intelligent game plan regarding your 401k Plan investment will often help you outsmart uncertainty, and will allow you to sleep well at night knowing you are positioned well for

Continue Reading

Inflation has been dominating headlines recently, but how did it get to be this way? In basic terms, inflation is caused by a surplus of demand driving prices up. For the past 30 years the US has enjoyed stable and controlled inflation despite several large economic shocks. As a result, we have all but forgotten the painful lessons of “stagflation.” In those years, a combination of high unemployment, oil price shocks, and the Fed not having a clear path forward resulted in a tough economic situation that was only cured by the Fed raising interest rates to high double digits and

Continue Reading

In 1994, a curious Bill Bengen decided to find out how safe his savings were. He wanted to know how much he could safely withdraw from his savings account each year without going broke. Most reading this article are aware of the “4% Rule” and it came from Bill Bengen’s work that day. For most individuals in the U.S., savings may come from a variety of categories. Some may have finished paying the mortgage on their house, which means the house has become a repository of savings. Most people established a “rainy-day-fund” representing emergency money. Many have a savings account and

Continue Reading

The article below is from Bloomberg, and was written by Suzanne Woolley and can be read here. US Workers Say They Need $1.8 Million for Retirement A new survey of people who have 401(k) plans found that it’s getting harder to put money away as costs rise. By Suzanne Woolley August 2, 2023 at 9:00 AM EDT Workers are finding it harder to save for retirement, even as the amount they need keeps rising. The average savings target in the US is now $1.8 million, according to a nationwide Charles Schwab survey released Wednesday. That’s up from $1.7 million a year

Continue Reading

Offering a 401(k) plan is an important part of your employee benefits package. However, selecting the right 401(k) plan administrator is crucial to ensure the plan is properly structured and managed. There are 5 key factors to consider when choosing a 401(k) plan administrator. Employer Contribution Structure The plan administrator must have the capability to properly structure and implement the employer contribution structure you want to offer. This includes: Matching Contributions: The ability to offer a Matching Contribution structure where the employer matches a percentage of the employee’s contribution. Profit-Sharing Contributions: The ability to offer a Profit-Sharing Contribution structure where the

Continue Reading