In the retirement plan world, there aren’t many do-overs. You don’t get to “try again” after a fiduciary breach, a failed compliance test, or a DOL investigation. You get one shot to get it right.
I’ve seen too many plan providers treat their work like rehearsal—assuming someone else will fix the missed deadlines, clean up the sloppy plan document, or explain the mistake to the client. That’s not professionalism; that’s passing the buck.
Being a plan provider means owning your work like it’s going to be audited tomorrow—because someday, it will be. Every signature, every disclosure, every vendor selection matters. When you operate like your reputation depends on it, it usually doesn’t get questioned.
Whether you’re a TPA, advisor, or ERISA attorney, your clients remember when you got it right the first time—and they never forget when you didn’t. The fiduciary world doesn’t reward perfection, but it punishes carelessness.
So don’t treat your work like a draft. You get one shot. Make it count.
