PLANADVISER - January/February 2018 - 29

[TPA] with these core strengths, can
step in and fill the gap.
As advisers are responsible
for how they guide their plans,
partnering with a firm that offers
co-fiduciary protection can help
ease a major concern. Ascensus
TPA Solutions
can serve
such
as
a
delegated co-fiduciary, offering
day-to-day 3(16) administration
services
as monitoring
eligibility, automatic enrollment,
deductions, plan limits, calculations,
loan repayments, and
the uploading of the client's full
census to recordkeeping partners.
" We've found that plans
don't go wrong once a year-they
typically go wrong pay period by
pay period, " Price says. To catch
any potential errors, " we offer
clients the opportunity to have
us analyze and cleanse their full
payroll data on a pay-period-topay-period
basis to help ensure plan compliance and, in
some cases, potentially save our clients thousands of dollars
and hours of time. " Solving problems immediately is crucial,
she says: " Waiting until after the plan year closes limits
correction options. "
Central to the adviser's role is plan design. Keeping
up with the latest features, tools, and pertinent regulations
is key. Each new client has a unique set of needs, and the
more knowledgeable the adviser, the better they can meet
them. A TPA specialist in plan design can be invaluable to
advisers who have sold mostly 401(k) plans but recognize
when some other qualified plan-e.g., new comparability,
traditional defined benefit [DB], cash balance, prevailing
wage, or employee stock ownership plan [ESOP]-might
serve a prospect better.
" At Ascensus, we're well-versed in all these plan designs
and can help the adviser and their clients determine what's
right for them, " says Jim Houpt, vice president of national
sales for Ascensus TPA solutions. " We start by ascertaining
the adviser's and client's goals for opening a qualified plan.
From there, we'll help them design a plan that best fits the
needs of the client. "
For advisers who specialize in DC plans, partnering with
a TPA versed in pension plans creates possibilities-and new
markets. One might be cash balance plans. Advisers have
much to gain in offering these plans-and so do potential
SPONSORED SECTION
clients, says Dan Kravitz, head
of Kravitz, Inc., an Ascensus
company. Companies can benefit
from increased retirement savings
for employees and owners; asset
protection; forced savings; and the
deductibility of employee contributions
and plan-related expenses, "
Kravitz says.
He relates how one adviser
helped a doctor's practice install
a plan that benefited both doctor
and staff. In this instance, the
doctor's total taxable income
was $450,000. By contributing
$135,000 to a cash balance plan,
he lowered that income, reducing
his effective federal tax rate to
roughly 20%. In addition, the plan
provided a way for the doctor's
staff to save for retirement.
Cash balance plans are
a good solution for any such
" professional practices, partnerships,
and other small businesses where the client wants to
save and defer taxes on $100,000 to $400,000 each year, "
observes Karen Shapiro, head of Dedicated Defined Benefit
Services [Dedicated DB], also part of Ascensus.
Dedicated DB specializes in both cash balance and
traditional DB plans-also attractive to small professional
firms. Her shared clients " with financial advisers
nationwide...are often high-income individuals with selfemployment
income, " she says. " We open retirement plans
that allow them to make tax-deductible contributions and
can reduce their overall tax liabilities. "
TPAs with intimate knowledge of such plans have
time-tested procedures and experience that non-specialist
advisers would not. This is why more than 14,000 plan
sponsors have chosen Ascensus' TPA solutions.n
Visit tpa.ascensus.com to learn more about
the firm's unrivaled expertise.
http://tpa.ascensus.com http://tpa.ascensus.com
PLANADVISER - January/February 2018

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