Safe Harbor 401(k) Plans: What Sponsors Commit To and When They Can Change It
A safe harbor 401(k) buys testing relief in exchange for a binding promise to employees. Here is what plan sponsors actually commit to, what documentation proves it, and the narrow paths to changing the design.
Nondiscrimination Testing Season: What Sponsors Must Supply and Approve
What employer plan sponsors must supply, review and approve during 401(k) nondiscrimination testing season – and where the fiduciary risk actually sits.
SPDs and Summaries of Material Modifications: What Sponsors Must Distribute and Keep
The summary plan description is the participant’s official description of your 401(k) plan, and the SMM is how you keep it current. Here is what sponsors must distribute, to whom, and what evidence to retain.
Fidelity Bonds and Fiduciary Insurance: What Every Plan Sponsor Must Carry
An ERISA fidelity bond is required by law. Fiduciary liability insurance is not. Most plan sponsors confuse the two – here is what each one covers and how to verify yours.
Plan Mergers and Spinoffs After an Acquisition: What Sponsors Must Reconcile
After a deal closes, merging or spinning off a 401(k) plan is a fiduciary act, not a paperwork chore. Here is what plan sponsors must reconcile, protect and document.
In-Service Distributions and Rollovers In: What Sponsors Must Approve and Document
In-service distributions and incoming rollovers look like paperwork, but each one is a decision the plan must be able to defend. Here is what sponsors must verify and document.
Plan Termination and Partial Termination: What Sponsors Owe Participants
Plan termination and partial termination are fiduciary events, not paperwork events. Here is what employers actually owe participants when a 401(k) plan winds down or a workforce reduction cuts the participant group.
Prohibited Transactions: What Plan Sponsors Must Watch in Their Own 401(k)
Prohibited transactions are the one area of ERISA where good intentions do not help. Here is what plan sponsors must watch in their own 401(k) plan.
Plan Loan Defaults and Deemed Distributions: What Sponsors Must Track
Plan loan defaults create reporting, tracking and fiduciary obligations for the employer. Here is what plan sponsors must monitor and document.
Required Minimum Distributions: The Sponsor’s Side of the Duty
Required minimum distributions are usually treated as the participant’s problem. Operationally, they are the plan’s problem — and a missed one is an operational failure in your plan, not just a participant tax issue.
