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DOL Best Practices for Missing Participant Searches

by Spiro G. Preovolos | Feb 21, 2023 | Articles & White Papers

Nearly half a century ago, Congress passed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). This groundbreaking law laid the foundation for the retirement plan industry as it exists today by setting minimum standards to protect participants of voluntarily established retirement and health plans in the private industry.

The DOL-Approved Way to Handle Missing Participant Accounts

by PenChecks Trust | Jul 14, 2021 | Articles & White Papers

Company-sponsored retirement plans, such as 401k and other defined contribution plans, would be much easier to administer without missing plan participants. But with the high mobility of today’s workforce and the fact that many former employees simply forget about their retirement accounts at their previous companies-it doesn’t seem likely the problem will go away any time soon.

Topics

SECURE 2.0 Force Out Limit and Plan Audits

The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, better known as EGTRRA, was signed by President Bush on June 7, 2001. EGTRRA made significant changes to income tax, capital gains tax, and estate and gift tax laws.

From Service Provider to Fintech Partner – The New Direction for PenChecks

Almost 30 years ago PenChecks Trust® opened for business with the goal of solving retirement plan distribution problems for plan sponsors and third-party administrators.

The Pros and Cons of Artificial Intelligence in the Financial Services Industry

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a rapidly growing field with the potential to revolutionize the financial services industry. In recent years, AI has been used extensively in financial services to improve the customer experience, streamline operations, and identify fraud.

SECURE 2.0 Provides New Tools to Assist Plan Participants In Crisis

The primary goal of retirement plans is to provide income at retirement, but defined contribution plans have been permitted to make some distributions while participants are employed. The most common form of distribution to participants who are younger than age 59 ½…

Five Things You Need to Know When Switching Recordkeepers

There are few things more disruptive to the peace or clarity of a 401(k) plan than a switch in recordkeepers, even when the change is instigated by a regular, thoughtful, focused evaluation of the alternatives.

PenChecks, Inc. Hires New Director of Retirement Services Strategy

PenChecks Trust®, a recognized leader in outsourced retirement plan distribution solutions, is pleased to announce Brian Furgala as their new Senior Director of Retirement Services Strategy.

Economic Group Pension Services (EGPS)

Company Situation:EGPS assists plan sponsors and TPAs with plan terminations, including processing more than 1,000 terminated participant distributions each year. Some of the terminations involve large numbers of participant distributions, others are small plans....

Normandeau Associates, Inc.

Company Situation:An environmental consulting firm headquartered in Bedford, New Hampshire, Normandeau Associates became an ESOP company in 2000 and has been 100% employee owned since 2012. With 250 participants in the ESOP, the company struggled to process the annual...

Blue Ridge ESOP Associates

Company Situation:As the largest independent ESOP and 401(k) third-party administration and recordkeeping firm, Blue Ridge works with ESOP and 401(k) plans ranging in size from 10 to over 30,000 employees. Although their services include distribution services, Blue...

Embrace Artificial Intelligence or Get Left Behind

Artificial Intelligence is all the rage in business talks, influencer marketing, and company press releases. Having completed many cross-industry AI & Automation implementations, I have seen first-hand how the technological trajectory in all industries, including payroll and benefits administration, is changing with increased adoption and implementation of AI and Automation.