Sponsoring a retirement plan is a meaningful commitment to your team. We help you run it well and protect yourself doing it.
When you sponsor a 401(k), you take on legal responsibility for how it’s run. Most business owners don’t realize how much exposure that creates — or how straightforward it is to manage properly with the right support.
We work with plan sponsors across Michigan to keep their plans compliant, cost-effective, and genuinely valuable for their employees.
A properly structured retirement plan isn’t just a compliance exercise. It’s a competitive advantage, a meaningful benefit, and one of the most powerful tax tools available to business owners.
We start with an honest assessment of where your plan stands today, then work with you to close the gaps — on your timeline.
As a plan sponsor, you carry legal responsibility for your 401(k). 5 questions to assess your exposure.
If your business sponsors a retirement plan, you are a fiduciary under ERISA. That means you must act solely in the interest of plan participants, select and monitor investments prudently, ensure fees are reasonable, and document the process you used. Fiduciary liability is personal, and it applies whether or not anyone explained it to you when the plan was set up.
Investment lineups and fees should be reviewed at least annually, with the review documented in writing. Plan design should be revisited whenever the business changes materially, such as significant growth in payroll or headcount. Many small business plans go years without a documented review, which is itself a fiduciary exposure.
Yes. ERISA fiduciary liability extends to personal assets, which surprises most small business owners. Common exposures include failing to monitor investment options, paying unreasonable fees, and not following the terms of the plan document. Working with a fiduciary advisor and documenting decisions substantially reduces that risk.