Beyond the usual gestation period, here are some specific “trigger points” which plan sponsors have reacted to that have accelerated their decision to move into a PEP?
Tag "MEP"
“Encouraging lifetime income distributions was one of my major initiatives at DOL and my biggest regret was that I was not able to move the ball forward as much as I wanted during my time there.” Here she explains why.
You might think you can ignore PEPs. And you might be in for a surprise.
In the end, though, you must remember the PEP is brand new. Not all offerings will offer the same advantages. Some may be designed specifically to forego one advantage to emphasize another.
In the coming ascendency of 401k PEPs, here’s what might surprise you, and here’s what might disappoint you.
Here things get a little familiar for companies with pre-existing stand-alone 401k plans (but may need to be discovered by those without plans).
Before you start to panic, take a deep breath and relax. The retirement savings industry is an aircraft carrier. It can’t turn on a dime.
Nonetheless, there is a way to short-circuit this time-frame. You can do it, but you’ve got to really want to do it.
One of the biggest risks inherent in MEPs/PEPs is coordinating all of the many moving pieces. Here’s why people might be wrong to think they know enough about assembling a 401k MEP/PEP and regulatory compliance only heightens the potential liability.
Why I’m Thankful for the 401k
I’m old enough to remember a world before the 401k. So distant was this anomaly in the tax code, that I, like nearly everyone else, was unaware of its existence, let alone its significance when it was formulated in 1978. What makes this more ironic was that it was my Congressman, Barber Conable, that led the way.