Employers who are proactive and address the fee disclosure regulations will experience less questions from employees and less stress. This regulation will separate the good from the bad. You and your employees deserve a good quality retirement plan that is fairly priced. It’s not about being the cheapest it’s about receiving a good value for a reasonable price. Eliminate all the pay points that do not add value to your plan.

Now is the time for employers to prepare for the August 30 deadline. Responsible plan fiduciariesand plan administrators should take the following steps now.

• Determine which plans and which service providers are covered by the requirements.
• Develop a plan for assessing the completeness of service provider fee disclosures when they are received and setup a communication link with the service provider to correct incomplete disclosures.
• Clarify with service providers who will formulate and distribute specific participant-level disclosures, including integrating certain service provider disclosures into the participant-level disclosures.
• Establish a procedure for notifying the Department of Labor if complete information can not be obtained.
• Establish ongoing processes to review and document the steps taking during the preparation of the fee disclosures to participants.

Employers who are proactive with regard to the new 401(k) fee disclosure regulations will experience a smooth transition. Those who ignore preparation will become reactive to employees questions.

Please comment or call to discuss how you company can prepare for the pending regulations.