The (401K) Retirement Plan Consulting Process
The rise in popularity of 401(k) plans has revealed that investors, by and large, simply don't know how to invest for retirement . It's not that they don't want to make good investment decisions, they are simply too emotional at the wrong times. Further, participants don't save enough; they're too conservative (or too aggressive) with their investment choices; they're too concentrated in a particular asset (or asset class); they leave their 401(k) asset allocation as the default (typically 100% low-yielding money market accounts); they chase performance, etc.
For too long, the common threads between most 401K plans have been a lack of participation, a lack of investment options and a lack of education. The "asset gathering" brokerage firms set up plans with as little effort and quality as possible and then move on to the next company. Delta Advisory Group had a better idea. Our proprietary 401K plan offers investors thousands of investment options to choose from including a myriad of sector funds and, in some cases, the ability to buy individual stocks. The best part, Delta Advisory Group can take the burden off the participants, and thus the Fiduciary, by providing full investment management services to the participant accounts. That's correct, we can make the decisions for you.
In an effort to attract and retain good employees, a company needs to offer a top-tier retirement plan. Delta Advisory Group designs, implements, administers and provides ongoing investment expertise for all types of qualified corporate retirement plans. We focus on your company and employees specific needs, delivering personal attention, flexible service and competitive fees. Whether your plan has hundreds of employees or a single participant, we'll shape our solutions to fit your specific situation. We offer:
- Customized plan design. You should never take a cookie cutter approach to your investment plans. Don't let big banks and big brokerage houses force feed you from their standardized trough.
- Flexible investment options. We can customize your plan with access to several thousand no-load mutual funds and even individual stock issues in an effort to deliver the best investment returns.
- Broad expertise beyond standard corporate plans.
- Attentive, experienced staff.
- Investment consulting for plan participants. It's one thing to offer hundreds of investment options in your plan. It's another thing to offer consulting services to help your employees choose the best investments for their specific goals and risk tolerances. Further, for a reasonable management fee, we can manage the portfolios for your employees.
Please note: Even if you have an existing plan you're not looking to change, you can offer your employees a free value-added service through our 401K Navigator™ program. The program assists your employees in selecting suitable investments from their alternatives and, best of all, it's tailored to their personal risk tolerance and long-term return goals. For more information, click on the "401K Navigator" link above.
If you are like most employers, you simply don't have the time or staff to devote to activities that aren't directly related to building and maintaining your business. In that vein, investing is a full time job. That's where the experience and expertise at Delta Advisory Group can save you valuable time and effort. We are well versed in the different types of corporate retirement plans available and our unique consulting process will help you identify, implement and maintain the most suitable retirement and benefit plans for your employers. In addition, the firm offers a buffet of services for you to choose from. We can work for you on a simple consulting basis. Or, we can take you step by step thought setting up a plan, selecting an administrator and consulting your employees on suitable investment allocations.
Identify and Evaluate Objectives
Because you and you're employees are unique, you deserve a high quality professional to navigate you through the myriad of retirement plan choices. After identifying goals and objectives, we present our findings with your plan committee. From this, we formulate a “blueprint” of what your plan should look like.
Contact Plan Providers & Administrators
Once your company's objectives have been laid out, we contact the plan providers and administrators that we feel would be an appropriate fit. The firm does not have an exclusive relationship with any single company. Our responsibility is to help you determine which program is best suited for your goals and objectives. Cost is a primary concern. However, we would not forego quality for a lower price.
*Note: The Third Party Administrator (TPA) services are listed below.
Analyze Data and Make Recommendations
Once we've scoured the market, we then present your company with a comprehensive plan. No two plan providers/administrators have exactly the same services or price them the same way, so we analyze the data for you and work with you to determine the best fit.
Ongoing Due Diligence and Educational Support
One of things that really sets us apart as an plan consulting firm is that we provide ongoing due diligence and educational support for the plan committee and plan participants. In our estimation, it's simply not enough to set up a plan and simply close the door behind us. The capital markets are complex and ever-changing. For this reason, we provide ongoing support to help your company and your employees reach their long-term financial goals.
To learn more about the retirement plan consulting process, please contact us via email or phone. We look forward to developing a comprehensive blueprint to assist your company family in achieving its retirement plan goals. We understand that companies have many options available to them in the retirement planning market place. However, we hope that through hard work, we can.
*Services provided by your plans Third Party Administrator (TPA) Why does a business or self-employed individual require a Third Party Administrator (TPA)? The TPA:
- Monitors and reviews changes in Pension Laws and Regulations, and applies them to your plan on an ongoing basis.
- Assists plan sponsor with plan design and/or redesign.
- Prepares and updates any plans documents and plans descriptions.
- Provides any necessary compliance testing.
- Submits required reporting from the Department of Labor (P.W.B.A).
- Assists the participants in the completion of enrollment forms, beneficiary designation forms and benefit election packages.
- Prepares form 5500, as required by law.
- Prepares ERISA summary Annual Reports required by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.
- Determines employee status, plan eligibility, compensation, contribution and investing.
- Calculates annual required or discretionary contribution to your 401 (k), Profit Sharing, Money Purchase, or Defined Benefit Pension Plans.
- Coordinates annually with your other advisors, including your certified public accountants, financial planers, investment managers or attorneys to insure that you are getting the most from your plan.