The No Surprises Act: A Cost Saving Opportunity for Employer Plan Sponsors
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Changing third-party administrators (TPAs) isn’t fun. If you have to for it, do it...more
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
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
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
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
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
You’ve got a lot on your plate as a retirement plan provider and the last thing you need is more headaches. So don’t add to your workload and headaches by deciding to bill for the work of another provider....more
I have been an ERISA attorney for almost 23 years now and it’s gone by pretty quickly. I have worked for a few ERISA attorneys and have seen quite a few out there giving speeches around here and there....more
One of the big parts of my practice is assisting third-party administrators (TPAs) who can’t or don’t want to afford an ERISA attorney on staff....more
Once Upon A Time In A Dying Organization - Whether it’s a synagogue, a law firm, or a third-party administration (TPA), I’ve been involved in one way or another with dying organizations. That’s probably a good reason why...more