401k Plan design – The most important success measure of any retirement benefit plan is how successfully and efficiently it drives benefits to its participants. What are the most critical 401k plan design elements? What is the best way to structure 401k plan? How can you increase participant enrollment and thus maximize participant outcomes for retirement readiness? Whether the challenge is employee participation or higher contributions for executives, we can help make sure the plan is designed for maximum efficiency and effectiveness.
In our work with clients we have found that it is the design of the retirement plan that is one of the primary determinant of a plan’s effectiveness. Unfortunately, many employers focus nearly exclusively on the rate and methodology of the employer contribution while neglecting other factors that have an equivalent impact. Features such as automatic enrollment, automatic escalation, and plan leakage affect participant success as much contribution rate and methodology. Plan sponsors should evaluate the design of their plan with a lens focused on all the aspects of design that impact their employee retirement readiness.
At Kaizen Retirement Plan Advisors, we have extensive experience in the many different ways that a retirement plan can be designed. Whether the challenge is low deferral rates, lack of employee participation or lack of higher contributions for executives, we can help make sure the plan is designed for maximum efficiency and effectiveness, reduce leakage and most importantly drive successful participant outcomes!
- Defined Benefit and Cash Balance Plan design – a great benefit for employees and it’s certainly a differentiator in today’s 401k focused marketplace, but unfortunately it’s more complicated and technical than a 401k plan. Unlike the popular 401k plan, it requires the professional services of an enrolled actuary. Traditional defined benefit plan costs have soared over the past decade driven predominately by record low interest rates. None the less, there are many tactical strategies available to reduce cost of this benefit. From changes to the investment allocations, actuarial assumptions, funding, plan design and cash balance options, there are several methods to reduce pension expense.
- Money Purchase Plans, Target Benefit, Profit Sharing – although these plans as stand alone plans are not as commonplace as they once were especially after the EGTRRA law was passed in 2001, we have extensive experience with the management and administrative functions and can help you take these plans to the next level.