Retirement Planology

Retirement planologist(R) for companies large & tiny. Goal: quality investments, cost efficient plans, happy employees (& DOL)

[Retirement Planology @RetPlanology]

In an acquisition, you inherit more than employees.

You inherit the plan’s fiduciary history. ⚠️

Due diligence should happen before plans are merged.
#HR #merger #acquisition #fiduciary #retirementplan

[Retirement Planology @RetPlanology]

#ERISA isn’t a generalist discipline.

As retirement plans scale, relying on specialized expertise becomes critical.
#HR #retirement

[Retirement Planology @RetPlanology]

As companies scale, HR and Finance tension increases. ⚖️

HR → talent + benefits
Finance → cost + sustainability

Leadership = balancing both without crossing fiduciary lines.
#HRleadership #HR #finance #401k

[Retirement Planology @RetPlanology]

At scale, leadership shifts from reactive → predictive. 📈

The goal isn’t fixing audit issues.
It’s anticipating them.
#HRleadership #retirementplan #401k

[Retirement Planology @RetPlanology]

Many small business retirement plans are “accidental.”

Set up quickly. Managed by one person.
Little documentation.

A simple fix: start a decision log. 🧩 #retirementplan #401k #HRmanagement

[Retirement Planology @RetPlanology]

At ~100 participants, your plan may require an annual audit.

That means:
• More oversight
• More cost
• More documentation

Plan for it early.
#HRleader #401k #retirement #retirementplan #HR

[Retirement Planology @RetPlanology]

Growth milestones bring new retirement plan complexity. 📈

50 employees → new HR/compliance requirements
100 participants → audit requirement

Oversight needs to scale with growth.
#401k #HRcompliance #retirementplanning #HR

[Retirement Planology @RetPlanology]

HR and Finance aren’t in conflict. They have different priorities.

2 hats in retirement plans:
• Settlor → business decisions
• Fiduciary → participant protection

Confusing them is where risk starts.The key is knowing when you’re making a settlor vs. fiduciary decision.

[Retirement Planology @RetPlanology]

If it’s been 3–5 years since your last RFP or fee review, ask:

Do we have enough data to determine if fees are still reasonable?

Strong plans follow a lifecycle approach. They evolve with the organization—not stay static. Governance should reflect that.
#401k #retirement #HR

[Retirement Planology @RetPlanology]

New to company #HR and inheriting #retirement plan responsibilties? Don’t start with fixes.

Start with understanding:
• Meeting minutes
• Service agreements
• Current processes

Foundation first. 🧩

[Retirement Planology @RetPlanology]

A simple check can catch big problems. 🔍

Compare:
• Payroll register
• Recordkeeper data
• Participant election

If they don’t match, something’s off in your company #retirementplan. #HR #payroll #401k

[Retirement Planology @RetPlanology]

According to HealthView Services:

Healthcare costs: ~$955K 🏥
Social Security benefits: ~$802K

Healthcare alone may exceed retirement income. Savings strategies need to reflect that. #healthcare #HR #socialsecurity #retirement

[Retirement Planology @RetPlanology]

According to the Public Retirement Research Lab:
Only 5% of eligible workers 50+ made catch-up contributions.

Behavior doesn’t always follow logic.

Retirement plan design helps close the gap. #401k #retirement #HR

[Retirement Planology @RetPlanology]

After every #payroll transmission, there are exception reports.

If no one reviews them:
• Errors persist
• Loans can default
• Contributions may be late

Oversight = follow-through.

[Retirement Planology @RetPlanology]

Payroll transmission exception reports aren’t optional for #401ks.

They flag issues like missing data, loan problems, and file errors. Ignoring them can lead to corrections and added cost. #HRleader

[Retirement Planology @RetPlanology]

If terminations aren’t processed correctly, you can end up with “zombie employees.” 🧟‍♂️

This not only can delays access to funds, but it creates risk as well. This is an easy to miss mistake, that creates a perfect example of why system accuracy matters so much. ⚙️ #payroll #HR

[Retirement Planology @RetPlanology]

Plan rules and system timing don’t always match. That’s exactly where missed contributions happen.

Eligibility, auto-enrollment, and escalation all need to be verified, NOT assumed.
#payroll #HR

[Retirement Planology @RetPlanology]

Automation doesn’t fix bad inputs.

If compensation, contributions, or loan payments are defined incorrectly, integrations will scale those errors.

Precision in setup matters. ⚙️
#payroll #HR #401k

[Retirement Planology @RetPlanology]

Most payroll integration issues aren’t data transfer problems.

They’re definition problems. ⚙️

If pay codes, contribution types, or hours aren’t set up correctly, errors scale automatically. #retirement #HR #payroll

[Retirement Planology @RetPlanology]

Payroll integrations usually work.

But if:
• Pay codes are misaligned
• Contributions are mapped incorrectly
• Hours aren’t tracked properly

The system will consistently send the wrong data.

Setup matters. #retirementplans #401k