If you've ever been involved in a qualified retirement plan (401k, profit sharing, pension, defined benefit, etc) there has been a retirement plan administrator working behind the scenes. This firm has insured that the plan was in compliance with all federal rules (e.g. ERISA) and maintained all pertient filings with the government and disclosures to you, the plan participant.
Retirement plan administration is not necesssary with an individual acount such as an IRA, Roth IRA, SEP or individual 401k. Typicaly, you as the participant have no direct interaction with the retirement plan administration process other than when you join the plan or when you retire and leave the plan. The type of retirement help you typicallly need (e.g. selecting investments) is not what the retirement plan administrator will do. Most however do maintainin retirement income calaculators, annuity calculators and other tools on their web sites to help retirement plan participants.
The types of plans that require professional retirement plan administration are:
Profit Sharing Plans - formulas may be integrated, non-integrated, age weighted or cross-tested
Money Purchase Pension Plans (Integrated and Non-integrated)
401(k) Profit Sharing Plans - Profit Sharing formulas may be integrated, non-integrated, age weighted or cross-tested
Safe Harbor 401(k) Plans
Super Comp and 401(k) Plans
One-Person (Solo) 401(k) Plans
Defined Benefit Plans
Cafeteria Plans
Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP)
Typical Services Provided by a Retirement Plan Administrator
Employee Communications
Announcement Information
Participant Election Forms
Investment Direction Forms
Beneficiary Forms
Administration Services Included in Base Fee
Daily, Monthly, Quarterly and Annual Record-keeping
Individually Directed Accounts (single brokerage account offering participants multiple mutual fund choices)
Pooled Accounts (single portfolio)
Separate Accounts (each participant maintains a separate brokerage account)
Financial Statements
Earnings Allocation
Contribution Allocation
Forfeiture Allocation
Summary Annual Reports
Participant Statements
ADP/ACP Testing Quarterly (if applicable)
401(a)(4) and 410(b) Testing Annually (if applicable)
5500 Series Form Filings and Related Attachments
Retirement Plan Administration Administrative Services
Daily internet access to participant accounts and/or Voice Response Unit (VRU) daily access
New Participant Enrollment
Participant Termination (includes all forms prescribed by Department of Labor and/or IRS)
Hardship or Other Withdrawals
Participant Loans (includes loan documents and amortization schedules)
Additional Participant Accounts (such as rollover funds maintained separately)
Refund Calculations
Manual Data Entry (for employee census information)
Trust Accounting (in excess of 8 hours)
1096, 1099-R and 945 Governmental Filings
Plan Documents and Related Forms
It is such a great article. Had fun reading it. For those who are new to the idea of IRA it is an investing tool used by individuals to earn and earmark funds for retirement savings. There are several types of IRAs: Traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs and SEP IRAs. You can find out more about IRA at which was of great help when I was looking for a retirement arrangement.
I wonder if retirement plan administration would be necesary if I am participating in both a company 401K plan and my Roth IRA. What do you think?
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