Full Scope Plan Administration (TPA)

Full Scope Administration (FSA) or Third Party Administration (TPA) clients receive all of the industry standard services including: eligibility verification; coverage, non-discrimination, and regulatory compliance testing; trust accounting reconciliation; government forms preparation, including SAR and Form 5500 with applicable schedules; participant loan and distribution processing, including calculation of require minimum disbursements; company matching, Safe Harbor, and/or profit sharing contribution calculations, earnings allocations, as well as preparation of participant benefit statements.

We not only run your required tests & calculations, but also continually watch for upgrade potential.

What sets Above & Beyond Retirement, LLC apart from the vast majority of TPAs is the ongoing consulting approach that is applied to client work day-in and day-out. We not only run your compliance tests and contribution calculations, but we continually watch for upgrade potential and monitor your year-by-year company and demographic changes help your plan continually evolve over time as your business does.

The level of administration services required by a plan can differ significantly from business to business and is dictated by the complexity of plan design and the diversity of the plan demographics (number of business entities, locations, owners, and participants). 

401(K) pROFIT SHARING / pENSION PLAN DESIGN 

The way a retirement benefit plan is designed significantly contributes to the level of benefit and cost of maintaining the plan. There are hundreds of different provisions that make up the building blocks of a retirement plan.  Even if a plan was well designed at the time of inception, it may have become outdated or inefficient due to changes in the business structure or modifications to applicable tax laws over time.  

Quality design analysis can save plan sponsors thousands of dollars in taxes or plan operation expenses.

For businesses starting their first retirement plan benefit program a quality in depth design analysis can save the plan sponsor thousands of dollars in taxes or plan operation expenses.  Similarly companies with well established plans can often realize additional cost or tax savings resulting from a periodic independent review of plan operations and provisions to make sure their benefit program remains competitive and on target with their ever evolving business goals and budgets.

As companies evolve over time, so should their retirement benefit programs.  Above & Beyond Retirement, LLC specializes in plan design analysis at all levels. 

Employee Education

Demystifying world of retirement plan benefits is a critical part of any successful employee savings program.  Let's face it - for employees to hand over their hard earned money to someone else to manage, they must first trust that it is in their best interest to do so.  

Trust is built through good communication and clear understanding.

Whether you run a start up technology company looking to recruit young college graduates who would prefer a digital presentation available on the company's intranet or own a boutique restaurant with employees of all ages who would feel more comfortable in a face-to-face meeting where they can ask questions and talk directly to a person, we will design an education program that meets your needs.

The education process begins with you as the business owner. Idnetifying your goals for the plan and then collaborating with your selected financial advisory team, to customize an education program that is clearly explains YOUR retirement plan to YOUR employees.  Many companies utilize mass produced "one size fits all" enrollment / education materials that often leave employees with more questions than answers.  By taking the time to personalize the materials to meet company goals and tailoring the style to employee demographics we provide the most value to your your employees which in turn provides for a higher level of understanding and often better savings rates.

TRUSTEE, BOARD, & FIDUCIARY Plan REVIEW & MEETING Services

One of the most important part of Sponsoring a qualified retirement plan is meeting the Fiduciary obligations and due diligence requirements.  This means that business owners and board members, as well as their appointed plan Trustees need to have practices and procedures in place for reviewing and ensuring the compliance of their plan operations and the qualification of their plan service providers, including the understanding and verifying the "reasonableness" of plan expenses. 

To assist Fiduciaries in meeting their ongoing responsibilities we provide independent plan review services. 

An independent look at plan procedures, operations, and costs by a professional can help identify potential areas of liability,as well as gaps in day-to-day operations that can lead to costly corrections.  Depending on the complexity of the plan, and the nature of the company, these can be done annual, semi-annually, quarterly or even on an ad hoc basis.  In addition, we also facilitate plan review meetings for Fiduciaries and Trustees, to include providing meeting minutes that meet recommended Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service standards for plan documentation.

PLAN COMPLIANCE CORRECTIONS / Audit Support

As a Plan Sponsor, employers have a vast number of administrative tasks to perform during the course of a plan compliance year.  Despite best intentions, or perhaps due to relationships with other negligent service providers, employers occasionally find themselves out of compliance.  We provide a wide rage of plan correction analysis and calculation services, including start to finish facilitation of corrections through the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) and/or Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP). 

Both the DOL and IRS can audit your retirement plan program.  Sometimes regulatory inquiries or audits are a result of information provided on the annual form 5500 form.  In other cases an audit can be based on random selection.  Working with a professional to navigate and streamline the process can save plan sponsors countless hours in time and help mitigate costs.