Looking for pointers in searching for a new 401k Plan Administrator.

[Guest Louis Gray]

I am currently involved in looking for a new 401k plan administrator. If anyone has been involved in this process, I would appreciate any pointers you can give me.

Louis Gray

[Jon Chambers]

Suggest you take a look at a paper on this topic that is available in PDF form on our web site http://www.schultzcollins.com. Go to the "Corporate Retirement Plans-Articles" tab and click on the link to "Managing the 401(k) Vendor Selection Process.

[Guest rmeigs]

The following links could also be of help to you:

http://www.401khelpcenter.com/Bundled_RFP.html

http://www.bcsolutionsmag.com/Archives2/ju...ned_contrib.htm

http://www.reish.com/framemaker.cfm?masthe...PAchecklist.cfm

[Guest Dick Boever]

By way of disclosure I must confess I have been involved in the pension business from every side. I have become a real sceptic. Not of the good the retirement plan does for the participants, but of the ability of companies to make good decisions. Employers are looking for answers to the wrong questions. I am someshat encouraged by your question, since you are looking for pointers not the quick answer.

Rarely does a week go by that I don't see a company that has the wrong kind of retirement plan or is using the wrong vendor for their needs. Usually it is because they didn't take the time to do the legwork required to make a good initial decision.

All too often someone gets in the door alleging to be an expert in the field, they then control the process, limiting the choices seen by the company to those that benefit the "expert." Usually, this will be a broker or insurance agent. It isn't much better if the expert is a pension consultant, that also happens to be a TPA. Know where your advisor makes the majority of their income, are they guiding you in the direction that is best for you or them.

Most people involved in the pension business, are paid based on the recommendations they make. What are the chances of a 401k salesman recommending you not adopt a 401k plan?

Likewise, there a people making blanket statements about what types of vendors you should use, when it is your organization that dictates what is appropriate to you. Anyone that will make a recommendation without interviewing your key staff is selling you a product, not solving your need.

Read the articles mentioned in the earlier posts, talk to many people both vendors and other businessmen with plans. Consider engaging a consultant that works only for a fee, even then you need to ask enough questions to know you getting what you are paying for.

Let the buyer beware! Good Luck.