News & Analysis as of

Retirement Third Party Administrators

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

The Choices You Make, That Can Land You In Trouble As A 401(k) Plan Sponsor

Our lives are the sum of our choices, at least that is what the trailer for the next Mission Impossible moving is telling me. When I was a kid, I would read these Choose Your Own Adventure books where the story and outcome...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Employees will screw up, be honest in fixing it

“A lot of holes in the desert, and a lot of problems are buried in those holes. But you gotta do it right. I mean, you gotta have the hole already dug before you show up with a package in the trunk. Otherwise, you’re talking...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

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… when people stop being polite… and start getting real.” As an ERISA attorney working with retirement plan clients, I often find...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Things That Shouldn’t Impress You From 401(k) Plan Providers

When I was a kid in day school in Brooklyn, we had a classmate whose shtick was that he was rich. He wasn’t rich, his father was a pa- thologist who worked at a city hospital, his mother didn’t work, and they rented a nice...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Yes, I support TPAs

When I was at law school, I was the editor-in-chief of the law school’s newsmagazine. My rise to the top probably had a lot to do with the free time I had by not making law review or any other of the law journals. I failed to...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Advisors should play nicely with other providers

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

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

You need the right partner

Whether it’s a partner in your business or a business partnership with another plan provider, it needs to be the right fit. I worked for two third-party administrators (TPAs) where partnership mismatches helped doom them....more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Trust is the underpinning behind any plan provider relationship

When working with other plan providers, trust is the biggest underpinning. Without it, you have nothing else. If you can’t trust the plan provider you’re working with, then why are you in business with them?...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

The problem of free or cheap plan documents

As an ERISA attorney who drafts plan documents at a flat fee, my biggest competitors are not other ERISA attorneys, but third-party administration (TPA) firms. ...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Multiple plans? Pick one TPA

Call me crazy, but I think less is more. If you have a 401(k) plan and another plan (usually a defined benefit or cash balance plan), there may be reasons why you would want multiple third-party administrators (TPAs)....more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

The Rosenbaum Law Firm Review - Volume 13 Issue 11

401(k) Errors That Should Require A Plan Provider Change - Change for the sake of change is a bad idea, you need a reason for it. There are certain plan errors when 401(k) plan sponsors should consider change and that...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

The Rosenbaum Law Firm Review - Volume 13 Issue 6, June 2022

Organization Ideas For 401(k) Plan Sponsors To Limit Liability Organization tools always pop up for sale after New Year’s because a lot of people want to try to keep their resolutions. My local Costco always trots out the...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

It’s your call

Unless you delegate a fiduciary function to a plan fiduciary such as an ERISA 3(16) and 3(38)fiduciary, it’s your call on things. When a third-party administrator (TPA) decides on their own that you will refund deferrals...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Advisors Advantage - May 2022

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

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

The Rosenbaum Law Firm Review

When Your Fired 401(k) TPA Takes Things Personally - Aside from Airplane!, my favorite movie of all time is The Godfather and the underpinning is the complete and utter transformation of Michael Corleone from “college...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Don’t waste a plan provider’s time

I started my practice almost 12 years ago and I devoted a huge part of it, to helping advisors with their clients. It’s a great way to get referrals, but there are times when the help I provided led me to nowhere...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

What makes a good TPA? Simple, service.

A bad third-party administrator (TPA) can be a weapon of mass destruction. So when plan sponsors focus on price or using their payroll provider in selecting the TPA, they neglect the most important attribute of a good TPA:...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Let the TPA do their job

As a financial advisor, you’ve been volunteered as a plan ombudsman and the problem is that you probably don’t have the knowledge of an ERISA expert....more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

There is a difference between TPAs

In any service industry, the quality of service and price can be far and wide. While people say that I focus way too much on the workings of the third-party administration (TPA) business, I have more experience in that field...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Changing TPAs, “don’t go into business for yourself”

Changing third-party administrators (TPAs) isn’t fun. If you have to for it, do it...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

The Rosenbaum Law Firm Review

The Problems With Free and Small Retirement Plans - There is no such thing as a free lunch. There is no such thing as free advice. The more years I spend in the retirement plan business; I know that there is no such thing...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Changes have to be smooth

I hate moving. I’ve lived in the same house now for 16 years and I dread the idea of moving and I haven’t put the house up for sale. That’s why I always loathe when there has to be a change of third-party administrators...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

401(k) contributions are up for 2022

In another consolidation for the retirement plan business, Ascensus, a recordkeeping services provider and third-party administrator announced it has reached an agreement to merge with Newport Group....more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

You can’t get paid more than you’re contracted to

It happened three years ago and I still can’t make sense of it. Where I come from, we call it chutzpah. The third-party administrator (TPA) of a 401(k) plan that I was serving as an ERISA §3(16) administrator overpaid the...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Get rid of the bad decision makers

I was a Vice President of a synagogue once and the biggest problem I had is that the people who had a greater say than I did were the same people who turned a synagogue from 750 member families to 300. They were ineffective...more

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