Financial Advisors, Investment Providers and Third Party Administrators (TPAs) are always looking for ways to stand out among their competitors and to prove that they are reputable and trustworthy. One way to demonstrate this is to earn the Seal of Excellence from the Centre for Fiduciary Excellence (CEFEX). You may have heard service providers tout the Seal of Excellence among their credentials, but what exactly does that mean to you? We are going to define the CEFEX Seal of

As the Third Party Administrator (TPA) for Qualified Retirement Plans, it is our duty to ensure the legal plan documents stay up to date and compliant with the IRS regulations and law changes that affect retirement plans. The IRS mandates that Defined Contribution Plans (such as 401(k), Profit Sharing, Money Purchase, etc.) be restated every six years to ensure the documents are current and include all changes that have occurred during the prior six-year period. RPCSI submitt

Part Two: Testing and Valuation This is a continuation of a previous post. If you have not read part one, which covers checking census data and balancing asset statements, you will want to do so before you continue reading. You can find Part One here . When all the data is in, everything matches, and it all balances as it should, the Consultant can begin testing. If the plan fails testing, the Consultant first checks that there are no coding errors that caused the plan to f

Part One: Gathering Census Data and Balancing Asset Reports If you sponsor a retirement plan for your employees, you will soon discover that the bulk of the government compliance work done by your Third Party Administrator (TPA) occurs in the first quarter of each year. Your duties as a Plan Sponsor will also become more demanding during that time as you gather the required data and have more frequent communications with your TPA. We often get questions on why the TPA is re

At this time of year, there is a lot of focus on your retirement plan. Your administration team is focused on gathering data, completing various compliance tests, and setting your plan up for another successful year. You are likely focused on all your fiduciary responsibilities that get more demanding during this time. Disruptions of any kind may make it much more difficult for you and your administration team. One of the primary disruptions to accomplishing the necessary pla

An employer-sponsored retirement plan is a cost-effective benefit strategy that is offered to employees at no or low cost. These benefit programs often include other services such as medical insurance for employees and tax breaks to the employer. Retirement plans fall into one of two general categories: defined benefit plans, in which the retiree is promised a defined monthly amount (also called pension plans), and defined contribution plans, where the employer, employee, or