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A SIMPLE Plan isn’t so simple

Small business plans that require no testing such as a SIMPLE IRA sound great on paper, but they create a nightmare when you want to save more for retirement as an employer. The problem is that a SIMPLE plan has to be the exclusive plan for your business f...

With some penalties, there is nothing I can do

Memorial Sloan Kettering is probably one of the top 5 cancer hospitals in the United States. If I ever got cancer, I’d be there as a patient instead of some rinky dink local hospital (my mother would take us to the nearest doctor, no matter how bad they mig...

That last button on your 401(k) plan

As an attorney, I hate dressing up. If I could wear a sports jersey to meetings, I would. One thing...

Win, Lose, or Draw

As an ERISA attorney for 26 years, I have seen a lot of strange things that plan sponsors have done...

Breaking up with your TPA can be hard to do

The MTV reality series The Real World ended their opening intro with “to find out what happens…...

The beneficiary form and the need for no drama

As a plan sponsor, you need to ensure that participant beneficiary forms are up to date. It’s not...

Make sure those exclusions make sense

If you restrict eligibility from your retirement plan to a certain group of employees outside of th...

Changes have to be smooth

I hate moving. I’ve lived in the same house now for 19 years and I dread the idea of moving I hav...

IRS has a tough time with the 5500 “zig zag”

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) doesn’t read the 5500s, but the Department of Labor (DOL) does...

The bonus problem

Bonuses are nice, I wouldn’t know because in the 11 years I was an employee, I got $300 for the h...