Business Solutions

Business Solutions - Overview

Being a business owner is not easy – it comes with overwhelming stress and tasks with limited time. Do you think you are already stretching yourself thin? If that’s the case, let us help you.

While every business is different, we can help in the areas below for any types of business so you can stay focused on growing.

Business Solution - FAQ

Q: Our current 401(k) provider does not offer “Mega backdoor” feature. Why?

A: Not all 401(k) plans are designed the same. Many 401(k) providers only offer the most plain vanilla plan design which does not have a “Mega backdoor” feature. We will be happy to review your plan and help to determine if this feature can be added.

Q: How much does it cost to set up a 401(k)? Can I only set up the plan but not provide any employer match?

A: The short answer is yes. Depends on the employee demography, certain plan design may not require employer match contribution.

Every business is unique. We fully understand that many business owners would like to provide a retirement saving plan but are not sure about the financial commitment they need to make. We will be happy to provide a complimentary start-up retirement plan proposal and a detailed fee breakdown.

Q: I heard Defined Benefit Plan before, how is it different from 401(k) and how can it help me?

A: Defined Benefit Plans allow for large annual contributions that are tax-deductible, grow tax-deferred and can be rolled over to an IRA at retirement. While 401(k) plan has an annual contribution limit of $61,000 (2022), defined benefit plan may allow you to deduct $200,000, $500,000, or ever $800,000 or more per year.

Q: I am a dentist/doctor, how can you help me?

A: A large percentage of our small business owner clients are dentists/doctors. Most of them come to us for the following services: financial planning and tax strategies, wealth management, 401(k) plan, cash balance or defined benefit plan, long term disability insurance.

Q: What is Safe Harbor and Safe Harbor Match?

A: Safe harbor refers to a provision in a 401(k) plan that exempts an employer from annual nondiscrimination testing that is required with a traditional 401(k) plan if the employer provides contributions to employees' accounts that are fully vested when made. According to IRS, the safe harbor match contribution can be either employer-matching contributions (limit to employee who defer) or non-elective contributions made on behalf of all eligible employees regardless of whether employees make deferrals.

Business Solution - Retirement Plan

When you first come to the retirement plan world, you will encounter many unfamiliar jargons and probably will feel super confused. For example, do you know what Safe Harbor is, or ADP/ACP test, Mega backdoor, 3(38)/3(21) fiduciary, and QDIA?
We believe you know your business inside out, but you may not have the time in the world to become an expert on retirement plan intricacies. That’s exactly why we are here.

If no retirement plan is offered at your firm yet:

We will have a consulting session with you to understand the specific needs and requirements of your potential plan.

• Do you want all employees, including interns, to be eligible for the plan from day 1?
• Do you want to have a graded or cliff vesting schedule for employer-match?
• Would you like to have “Mega-back door” feature in your firm’s 401(k) plan?
• Which plan can help me defer the most amount of tax?

Once we fully grasp your needs, a customized proposal featuring the following topics will be generated for you.

• Which retirement plan is the most suitable for your firm, e.g., 401(k), SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA, cash balance plan.
• Which plan provisions are recommended based on your needs, e.g., eligibility requirements, vesting schedule, employer match %, and profit sharing.
• The detailed pricing schedules, investment options, TPA/recording provider candidates.

We will deliver and present the comprehensive retirement plan proposal to you, answer any further questions you may have, and provide hand holding support throughout the entire design, set-up, and enrollment process.

This comprehensive start-up retirement plan proposal and consulting session are complimentary.

If your firm is already offering retirement plans:

We will review your existing retirement plan, including 5500 filings, 408(b)(2) employer fee disclosure, and 404(a)(5) employee fee disclosures, to find out if there’s any red flags or room for improvement.

• Are you currently paying too much for your plan? We will run an extensive request-for-proposal for you to provide feedbacks on pricing competitiveness of your current provider.
• Does your plan have any corrective distributions, which indicate poor plan management which prevent employees from contributing as much as they want?
• Does your plan have sufficient Fidelity bond coverage, which protects the plan against losses caused by acts or fraud or dishonesty?

We will perform a benchmark study on key metrics of plan operation and performance, and a comparison of your plan to all other plans nationwide with similar business size/employee demography.

• Using a proprietary algorithm, a plan score which indicates the relative strength of a plan’s design, administration and performance will be generated
• What is the total asset, rate of return, participation rate, average account balance, employer contributions, and employee contributions of my plan compared to  peer group plan?

If you would like to switch plan advisor to us, we will take care of the entire transfer process.

The comprehensive plan review and bench match study are complimentary.

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