Our Top 10 401(k) Blogs of 2016: What Topics Were the Most Popular?

Happy Holidays from the Frugal Fiduciary! As 2016 comes to a close, we looked back through this year’s blogs to find the most read.  It turns out our most popular blogs related to the following topics:

• Plan design – Explanations of common retirement plan options and their rate of use by small businesses.
• Plan administration – How to easily meet 401(k) fiduciary responsibilities and avoid common pitfalls
• Providers fees – How much 401(k) providers are charging and instructions for calculating 401(k) fees.

So, in case you missed them the first time, or just want a refresher, here are our top 10 most read blogs of 2016.

1. Safe Harbor 401(k) Plans: Answers To Common Questions - Safe harbor 401(k) plans are the most popular type of 401(k) used by small businesses today. They automatically pass annual ADP/ACP and top heavy when certain contribution requirements are met. For many employers, that trade-off is well worth the cost
2. Is Your Company Part of a Controlled Group?  You Need to Know or Risk 401(k) Plan Disqualification - Under IRS controlled group rules, two or more employers with common ownership are considered a single employer for purposes of 401(k) nondiscrimination testing. Controlled group problems are easily avoided when these rules are understood.
3. 401k Plan Design Study: What 2,767 Small Business 401k Plans Are Doing - The process of matching a company’s 401(k) goals to available options is called 401(k) plan design. 401(k) fiduciaries should understand this process because it can save their company thousands of employer contribution dollars annually.
4. Managing 401(k) Deadlines for the 2016 Plan Year – A Checklist Can Help - A myriad of tasks must be completed each year to keep a 401(k) plan in compliance with ERISA. When considered together, these tasks can easily seem overwhelming. When they are unpacked, however, it’s clear they are manageable.
5. 401(k) Eligibility: When to Let Employees Join Your 401(k) Plan - Who 401(k) fiduciaries let into their plan can have a dramatic effect on the plan’s cost, ease of administration, and perceived value to existing or prospective employees.  401(k) fiduciaries should understand their eligibility options to best match them to company 401(k) plan goals.
6. Understanding a 401(k) Plan’s Fiduciary Hierarchy Can Make It Easier for Employers To Meet Fiduciary Responsibilities – Meeting 401(k) fiduciary responsibilities is easier when an employer knows the parties responsible for the day-to-day administration of their 401(k) plan.
7. Small Business Retirement Plan Options: 401(k)s vs. SIMPLE and SEP IRAs - 401(k)s are not the only retirement plan option for small businesses - IRA-based alternatives exist. These alternatives should be considered when a business does not need the key virtues of a 401(k) plan – high contribution limits and design flexibility – but wants to help employees save for retirement.
8. John Oliver Should Be Upset; His Hancock 401(k) Fees Are Too High! - John Oliver lambasted the 401(k) industry and his own 401(k) plan with John Hancock on his HBO show Last Week Tonight. It’s tough to get to the bottom of John Hancock 401(k) fees.  To do so, you need to understand their service delivery model and sources of compensation.
9. 401(k) Document Retention Rules Made Simple - In general, 401(k) plan records must be kept for a period of not less than six years after the filing date of the IRS Form 5500 created from those records. To organize this information, I recommend using three files – a file to store documents that govern plan operation (a “Plan Document File”), a file for participant records (a “Participant File”), and a file for plan year information (a “Plan Year File”).
10. (Possibly) The Biggest Small Business 401(k) Fee Study Ever! -  Meaningful 401(k) fee data is hard to come by – and that’s a big problem for small businesses with a fiduciary responsibility to keep 401(k) fees reasonable for plan participants. In 2016, we completed a fee study, summarizing the fees for 121 401(k) plans with less than $2M in assets.

Want to know our top 10 blogs of 2015?  Click here to check them out. Have a Joyous New Year. We’ll see you in 2017!