When a plan sponsor (or search specialist working on the plan sponsor’s behalf) squeezes a vendor too tight, the resulting contract may come with an attractive price tag, but it will set plan sponsors up for a downstream nightmare of quality and service issues that negatively impact both plans and their participants.
How to tell if you’re paying reasonable fees for actuarial services
As a defined benefit (DB) plan sponsor, it can be difficult to determine whether the fees you are paying for actuarial services are reasonable. Here are some ways to evaluate whether actuarial fees are in line with the services provided.
6 things your pension administrator may not be doing
Are you getting the most from your defined benefit pension plan outsourcer? Here are six things to check the next time you look under the hood of your relationship.
Pandemic sharpens focus on employee financial wellness
COVID-19 has made financial wellness a hot topic in 2020 as employees seek to become more financially resilient. Here are some initial steps plan sponsors can take to gauge how well employees are using their existing benefits and determine whether additional financial wellness benefits are called for.
‘Free’ plan implementation can come with big costs
“Free implementation” has become a ubiquitous element of benefit plan administration proposals. The appeal to plan sponsors is understandable, but rest assured, with free implementation, you get what you pay for. Understanding the true cost of implementation will help plan sponsors evaluate potential benefit administrators and initiate the implementation process with eyes wide open and a more realistic budget.
Retirement readiness starts at work
Every year, 3.8 million people in the U.S. reach retirement age. How can plan sponsors help workers get ready? Offering a retirement readiness program that considers employees’ emotional, financial and healthcare needs can go a long way toward helping them prepare.
Keeping up with all the players in outsourced benefits administration
The benefits outsourcing market is evolving rapidly, making it hard for plan sponsors to know what to look for — and who to consider — when preparing RFPs for the outsourcing of defined benefit, defined contribution, health and welfare and nonqualified benefits. Here are some tips.
Finding the right voluntary benefits broker may be trickier than clients realize
When selecting a provider for voluntary benefits, small to midsize companies often turn to the same broker that serves their medical or retirement plan needs. But medical and retirement benefits brokers may lack the knowledge or impartiality required to deliver optimal service in the voluntary benefits space. An unbiased third party that neither sells insurance products nor receives commissions when its clients select insurance products can help with the broker search.
Plan sponsors could consider a different solution to provider woes
Occasional employee complaints about a benefit plan are inevitable. But when they become a regular occurrence, it can point to more significant problems with a plan administrator or other vendor. Companies that find themselves in this position have several options — including an often-overlooked option that we call “vendor recovery.”