• Group Retirement Plans

    “The secret to success is good leadership, and good leadership is all about making the lives of your team members or workers better.” — Tony Dungy

    Group Retirement Plans

Retirement Plan Fiduciary Services: Offers Benefits for Everyone

Qualified Retirement Plans are employer-sponsored retirement savings plans that give you, the business owner, and your employee’s tax incentives to save for retirement.

Employees who participate in Qualified Retirement Plans save for retirement by making regular contributions to an approved investment account, and taxes– on both their contributions and  the growth of their investments– are deferred until they either withdraw their funds or reach retirement age.

It’s a great deal for participants– they save on taxes now, grow their savings in the market now, and pay the tax bill later, when they will likely be in a lower tax bracket because they have retired and aren’t earning a full paycheck anymore.

It’s a great deal for you as employer, too– you get tax incentives for providing this benefit and matching employee contributions, so you save on taxes now, too. Plus there are other benefits (more on that shortly)…

Retirement plans encourage everyone to start early and get in the habit of saving regularly for retirement, which leaves you all better off in the future. And they reduce everyone’s tax liability now, so you all have more to spend on other things during your prime earning and spending years, even while saving for retirement.

We handle everything as your retirement plan fiduciary. Common services include 3(38) Investment Management; 3(21) Limited Scope Adviser Services, Investment Policy Statement creation and monitoring, Quarterly Fiduciary Monitoring Investment Benchmarking Reports, Participant Educational Videos, Online Enrollment, Coordinating your TPA, Recordkeeping, and Custodial services. We are full service experts.

Why Set Up a Retirement Plan?

A qualified retirement plan is a winning proposition for you, your business and your employees:

  • Attract Top Talent

    Recruit the best and brightest by offering a benefit they value and expect

  • Foster Loyalty

    Employees feel valued when you invest in their future security, which reduces turnover

  • Employees Save on Taxes

    Employees reduce current tax liability and defer taxes until retirement

  • Save on Business Taxes

    Businesses receive a tax deduction for contributions to employee retirement savings

  • Secure Your Own Future

    Save for your own retirement while encouraging your team to save for theirs

  • Benefit Society

    Support a world in which our elders have the means to live after a lifetime of work through saving

With so many benefits, a group retirement plan is well worth the time, effort and cost of setup and administration– it pays dividends far beyond retirement savings.

Retirement Plan Options

There are a number of different types of qualified retirement plans available:

  • 401(K) Plans

  • 403(B) Plans

  • Profit Sharing Plans

  • Defined Benefit Plans (Pensions)

  • Money Purchase Pension Plans

  • SEP Plans (Simplified Employee Pensions)

  • SIMPLE Plans (Savings Incentive Match)

Which option is the best choice for your business and your employees depends on your particular business and your goals for your retirement plan.

We’ll help you get clear on what you want to accomplish, and then give you recommendations on which plan type will best help you achieve your goals. There are a lot of rules and regulations involved and each plan works differently, so guidance from someone who knows the differences makes it faster and easier to choose.

Plan Costs Can Be a Huge Drain on Retirement Savings

The biggest bite out of your and your employees’ retirement savings is plan costs. Plans costs can include some or all of the following (and different plan vendors may call them by different names, which is part of why it’s so confusing!). As your retirement plan fiduciary we make sure you understand all fees being charged by all providers while doing our best to reduce or eliminate them leaving more money invested to grow for your retirement.

  • Plan Administration

  • Asset Management

  • Account Management

  • Transaction Fees (Buying)

  • Transaction Fees (Selling)

  • Sales Commissions

  • Compliance & Reporting

  • Payroll Processing

  • Individual Service Fees

These costs quickly add up, and even a small increase in the percentage that goes toward fees can make a huge difference in the amount you and your plan participants ultimately save, since fees are deducted from your retirement account.

The Impact of 401(K) Plan Fees on Savings

How much of a difference can even a 1% difference in 401(K) plan fees make in your and your employees’ savings? A LOT. (1:34)

Learn more about Retirement Plan fees and expenses

The Biggest Factor in Your Success: Plan Participation

Because part of our vision is to help you and your team be good stewards of your resources, from our perspective there’s an even bigger challenge than plan costs to making a group retirement plan a success: the only way the plan will actually make your and your team’s lives better is if everyone actively participates. We offer individualized retirement planning to participants looking for additional guidance.

That’s why we focus on two key goals besides finding the best financial terms for every group retirement plan we set up:

  • Education

    We educate you and your team in-depth on your retirement savings needs, plan options and their advantages, disadvantages and costs, so you all understand the differences between your available choices and what you can realistically expect to achieve. LEARNING CENTER

  • Empowerment

    We provide you and your team with ongoing information and support, so you are empowered to make good choices you can feel confident will serve you well over the long term– not because we say so, but because you know so yourself. FINANCIAL PLANNING

We don’t just want to help you set up a plan; we want to help you set it up so it gets great results! That means investing the time and effort to encourage participation by educating your team on a) what they will need to retire comfortably; and b) how they can take full advantage of your plan to save for the future they want.

These keys, which are often overlooked, are what truly makes your plan a success by our definition– they help you achieve the broader goal of improving everyone’s lives and securing all of your futures.

We’re Here to Help You Find the Right Plan With the Lowest Costs, and to Set You Up to Succeed

At Abiding Wealth Advisors, we help you decide which type of plan to set up and how, and then we work to find the plan vendor that offers the best match for your needs at the lowest possible cost.

Because we are independent, we are not limited to a small set of proprietary group retirement plan options like some financial services providers. We offer a wide range of plans and services from a variety of vendors, and can help you choose wisely and negotiate the best deal for your business.

That’s great news for you: It means we are often able to find a plan that offers better or more investment options, better service, lower fees or some combination of all of these than someone else.

Add in our ongoing support and periodic review of your goals and results– not just returns but also participation– and you might get not only a better deal, but you’ll also maximize the overall value of your group retirement plan for you, your business and your team.

We call that a win for everyone.

Retirement Plan Fiduciary Standard of Care

What is that, and why does it matter?

Because we apply the Fiduciary Standard of Care to our work on your retirement plan, you can rest assured our recommendations really are in your best interests: The Fiduciary Standard of Care requires that a financial advisor act solely in the client’s best interest when offering financial advice to the retirement plan sponsor or any of its participants.

Not all advisors follow the Fiduciary Standard– many follow the Suitability Standard of Care, which means their recommendations must be “suitable” for your situation, but they may make recommendations which, although suitable, may have higher costs for you but earn them larger commissions.   >> Learn More

The Fiduciary Standard means we are accountable for doing what’s best for you, not us, even if it means we earn less in the process.

It’s the right thing to do, and that’s why we do it this way and have for years.

If you’re not sure which standard was applied by the advisor who recommended your current plan, ask them.

If they did not use the Fiduciary Standard and you want to know whether this stricter standard would mean a different recommendation for you, contact us.

We will be glad to let you know what we would recommend using the Fiduciary Standard, and if our recommendation would be different, to explain why.

If you want to set up a retirement plan for your business, or explore whether we can offer our fiduciary retirement planning services to your current plan, please contact us to schedule a confidential consultation.

We will be happy to meet with you, discuss your options and help you set up a group retirement plan that will serve you, your business and your team well.

Contact Us to Schedule a Free Consultation

Tools and Resources

Interactive Advisor: Which types of retirement savings plans are available for my small business?

Compare small business retirement savings plan options

IRS Pub. 3998: Choosing a Retirement Solution for Your Small Business

What are my fiduciary responsibilities as a retirement savings plan sponsor?

What reporting and disclosure requirements do I have for my retirement savings plan?

IRS Small Business Retirement Plan Resources for Plan Sponsors

How to Launch Your Company’s 401(K) Plan

Videos

Your Business: Small Business Retirement Planning

J. J. Ramberg, host of OPEN Forum’s Your Business, talks to financial journalist Jean Chatzky about small business retirement plan options and why business owners shouldn’t rely solely on the sale or transfer of the business to fund their retirement. (3:54)

FOX Business: Picking a Small Business Retirement Plan

FOX Business host Gerri Willis talks to a retirement consultant about some of the factors small business owners, especially of new businesses, should consider when picking a retirement plan, starting with the plan’s features and benefits. (4:42)

How to Set Up a SEP or SIMPLE Plan for Your Business

IRS video - How to Set Up a SEP or SIMPLE Plan

This IRS video sequence has information on the benefits of offering an employee retirement plan, current IRS guidance on how to set up a SEP or SIMPLE Plan, plus links to more information. (You can skip sections not relevant for your business.)

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