I live in a village where school board members don’t understand how things look and the inherent conflict of interest. I think a school board president who was hired as the library’s attorney looks bad when she collects a retainer and $12,500 for two real estate closings where no mortgage was involved by the library. I believe if something doesn’t look right, it shouldn’t be done.

If you decide to hire a 401(k) plan provider because you already have an existing business relationship in another realm such as payroll, banking, or financial, things may not look right, especially when you leverage your 401(k) plan to get better terms such an increase in your bank line of credit.