Many employers offer 401(k) and/or profit sharing plans. Employers, as Plan Sponsors, have a fiduciary responsibility to review periodically the plan’s terms, features, fees, investments with their vendor(s) and their vendors to assess whether any plan changes are required to satisfy the compliance and fiduciary standards required under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The day-to-day business and employee needs, generally, take precedent which makes it difficult for employers to find time to review their plans.
To assist employers with this task, Midland Wealth Management, Retirement Plan Services (“Midland”) has developed a simple questionnaire for employers to complete to determine whether they have issues to address regarding the administration of their retirement plans. The goal of the questionnaire is for employers to get a sense of whether their plan is in good shape without doing a lot of research. If the employer does not know the answer or if the answer is not readily available to the employer, then a “don’t know,” response is just as concerning as a “no,” response on the questionnaire. Often, we discover that an employer has adopted a plan that best meets its vendor’s needs instead of the employer’s needs regarding:
- Plan investment selection
- Plan fees/expenses and those charged to participants
- Plan design
- Plan education
Place a score of “5” in the final column if the response to the question is “Yes.” For all other responses, place a score of “0” in the final column. Then add up all your points in the final column to receive your total questionnaire score. If you want to discuss your questionnaire responses with a Midland Wealth Advisor, please call Midland at 815-231-2710.
Take Our Company Retirement Plan Checkup Questionnaire