PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - SECURE 2.0: Leveraging Opportunities Employees Want Most
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - ESG Investing by Retirement Plans
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Auto-Portability: A New Way to Keep Retirement Savings Growing
Private Equity VS Real Estate Transactions | #5 Setting Your Rent as Part of a PE Deal
Jewish Divorce Talk: Episode 4 - Financial Talk
Rising Chapter 11 Bankruptcies in Healthcare
Physician Employment Agreements: Focus on Financial Planning
All in the Family – Introducing Family Owned Life Insurance™ (aka FOLI™)
Family Affair - Introducing Family Office Life Annuity (FOLA)
TAKE A CHANCE ON ME! PART II - Embracing the Magic of Private Placement Life Insurance and Private Placement Variable Annuities
RETURN TO FOREVER - What Game Shall We Play Today?
TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD! Planning for Post-Retirement Medical Expenses with 401(h) Plans
TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD! Planning for Post-Retirement Medical Expenses With 401(h) Plans
HIPPER THAN HIP
NOWOTNY KNOWS SQUAT! Part IV Using Post-Retirement Medical Plans to Raise AUM and Sell Life Insurance
NOWOTNY ON DEATH AND TAXES EPISODE 35 USING POST-RETIREMENT MEDICAL PLANS TO RAISE AUM
NOWOTNY KNOWS SQUAT! Part 3 Using Malta Pension Plans to Raise AUM and Sell More Life Insurance
NOWOTNY KNOWS SQUAT! Part 2 Using PPLI and PPVA Annuities to Raise Assets Under Management and Sell More Life Insurance
What makes a good retirement plan financial advisor? Well, it takes attention to detail, an understanding of what the role to entails, and dedication to the client. In addition, what I find is the way a good financial advisor...more
Recent Changes That Plan Providers May Not Like - On Curb Your Enthusiasm, Ed Asner was a guest star, playing an elderly man who wanted to change his will. Based on a recommendation by Larry David, Ed’s character visited the...more
10 years in, I’m glad I went on my own as an ERISA attorney, so I could provide value to clients, instead of being wedded to a billable hour because of a huge overhead working for a law firm....more
Over the past 11 years as a solo ERISA practitioner, I always get asked if that’s all I do. It’s not some kind of insult, but a question on whether I also do financial advisory work and/or third party administration work. The...more
In sports and in business, you’re only as good as the team that you are on. I have been on some good teams and not-so-good teams, so I know that sometimes I was only as good as an ERISA attorney if my fellow employees were...more
I’ve written blog posts about the problems that I see when a plan provider I know gets purchased. From experience, any purchase comes along with a lot of change. The problem is most of the time, it’s not good....more
Another thing that sets plan providers apart is the work ethic, whether they will do what’s needed to be done or do it as minimally as possible....more
People tend to hate change especially when things are good. The problem with a change in the retirement plan business that I find is when a plan provider you’re working with, gets purchased. The people who have led this plan...more
The law firm I started 10 years ago is actually more than 20 years old as it was a shell where I could offer legal services on the side while I did my normal day job. It was an experiment on whether I could go out on my own...more
I always talk about my open-door policy with financial advisors and third party advisors where I will help these plan providers out without me actively seeking their business. I kind of have that liberty because it’s my law...more
Whenever I hear about someone getting caught with lying about their resume or credentials, I am always astounded. I don’t know why people lie about college degrees they didn’t receive or credentials they didn’t achieve, but I...more
When it comes to my law practice, I have an open phone call policy. I entertain phone calls from financial advisors and TPAs around the country and try to help them by answering questions regarding their current clients or...more
I always talk about how plan sponsors need to work with experienced financial advisors, third party administration (TPA) firms, and ERISA attorneys on their plan needs. Like with reasonable fees, I believe that the term...more
As an ERISA attorney, I always have an open phone policy with plan sponsors, financial advisors, accountants, TPAs, and other attorneys from around the country on questions they may have about their plan or a client’s...more
A friend of mine and I were talking about a financial advisor that we knew that had a tremendous and respectable book of 401(k) business and how he uses a well known and ineffective third-party administrator (TPA) for many of...more
Retirement plans with more than 100 participants require a CPA audit for their Form 5500. However, small plans with less than 100 participants may sometimes require an audit. This often happens when more than 5% of the Plan’s...more
A long time in a galaxy, far far away (the time before fee disclosure regulations), I talked to the top salesman of a certain third-party administration (TPA) firm that charged an asset-based fee. The TPA wasn’t a producing...more
If you have a great product, but lousy distribution, you’re not going to do well. Yet the same thing is on the flip side if you have great distribution, but a lousy product. Whether it’s a multiple employer plan, a great...more
I’m stubborn and there are just some things I don’t understand, so hear me out. I got a call not too long ago from a financial advisor about my practice and how I price my work on a flat fee basis. I told the advisor that...more
I’ve spent 21 years as an ERISA attorney and took some classes when I was getting my LLM and I learn something new about retirement plans every day. As a financial advisor, you likely didn’t have the training to be an ERISA...more
If your financial advisor tells you that it’s time for the regularly scheduled meeting, don’t blow them off. If your third party administrator (TPA) needs you to complete their census request, do it....more
When I was a kid, I’d be passive-aggressive in the sense that I wouldn’t let people know how upset I was about things. Thanks to some age and maturity, I don’t have to be that scared kid anymore and not ask what I want....more
As a plan provider, it makes sense to create an ancillary line of business if it’s a natural carryover of the existing line of business....more
I don’t believe in coincidence and when something happens twice, it’s a cause for concern. Within the past couple of months, I’ve had to deal with third party administrators (TPAs) paying ERISA §3(38) fiduciaries in excess of...more
As A Plan Provider, How You Can Think Outside the Box. You have to be creative. Being a retirement plan provider isn't easy and one of the reasons it isn't easy is because it's so competitive. As I always say, there is...more