The IRS is adding some new questions to the 5500 Form, which is the tax return for a retirement plan.

Here's another installment of how retirement plans are awesome…until they’re not! And they’re not awesome when they’re a drain on your cash flow, a bane of the plan administrator’s existence, and considered a throw away benefit by your employees. Here's another story you can learn from so you can hopefully avoid these mistakes.

Retirement plans are awesome…until they’re not! And they’re *not* awesome when they’re a drain on your cash flow, a bane of the plan administrator’s existence, and considered a throw away benefit by your employees. Let’s talk about the back stories on some clean up work we were involved with lately and hopefully you can avoid these mistakes.

The number one way to shorten your RFP process? Use a Retirement Planologist. (Retirement Planologist: one who specializes in providing consulting and advisory to retirement plans.) Why?

Here are tips for how to shop for a new retirement plan vendor. It’s really important to recognize that you need to choose well so your participants are happy and so you’re happy administering the plan. After all, this is a benefit. And, since you’re responsible for handling other people’s money, this isn’t a decision to be taken lightly.

Department of Labor regulations, ERISA, and specifically section 408(b)(2), require that plan sponsors obtain fee disclosures for their plan and that all such fees be “reasonable” for the services provided. Unfortunately, retirement plan fees have become increasingly complex in how they are collected and the marketplace is ever changing! Understanding value is tough.

Let’s start this one off by asking, when was the last time you looked at the retirement plan marketplace to see what was new? Besides margins decreasing, vendors have been working diligently to stay competitive and offer new features and programs. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of stuff that is craptastic, but occasionally there are insights or attributes that would be really helpful to your plan.

Stuff goes awry during transitions sometimes. A consultant can help you understand what’s normal, what’s not, and what to expect, so that you have a frame of reference. Much like planning and executing a wedding, there’s a big difference in how mishaps are handled and the bride’s (or her mother’s) interpretations of how bad the mishaps are.

So...what do you think is a successful retirement plan? Ever thought about it? Here are some ways to think in terms of defining your organization's plan's success. (If you haven't thought about it, click here for our white paper on the subject.)