Risk & Business Magazine Walsh Duffield Companies Fall 2016 | Page 25

RETIREMENT PLANNING

BY: LISA PETRONIO, VICE PRESIDENT OF
RETIREMENT PLAN SOLUTIONS

Retirement Planning
5 Things The DOL Wants You To Know

R

etirement benefits are
crucial to your employees,
but their many government
mandates and restrictions
can make them complicated
and confusing. For many employers, this
state of affairs can result in ignoring
the situation rather than dealing with
it head on. That, of course, is not the
ideal way to handle retirement plans.
Fortunately, the Department of Labor
(DOL) has a myriad of information for
both employers and employees when
it comes to their retirement plans.
Here are five things you should know
about the Department of Labor’s
impact on your retirement plan:
1. VENDOR BENCHMARKING
The DOL recommends a retirement
plan benchmark service every three to
five years to evaluate the fees charged to
your participants. The purpose of this
benchmarking is to ensure that employees
are receiving the same pricing and product
offerings that would be provided to new
clients, rather than relying on legacy
products. Walsh Duffield Retirement Plan
Solutions can complete a comprehensive,
independent, vendor benchmarking
study on a project basis to evaluate
vendor fees, services, and investments.
2. OUTSOURCING
The DOL has issued guidance on the
outsourcing of plan responsibilities,
allowing plan sponsors to focus on their
core business. Limit your plan sponsor
fiduciary risk relating to investment
selection and monitoring by seeking
out a 3(21) fiduciary for help. As a 3(21)
fiduciary, Walsh Duffield Retirement
Plan Solutions can help you limit your
plan sponsor fiduciary risk related to

investment selection and monitoring.
3. TARGET DATE FUNDS
As these investment options continue
to grow in popularity, the DOL reminds
fiduciaries to establish a process for
comparing, selecting, and reviewing
target date funds. Undertake a thorough,
qualitative and quantitative process to
select a target date series that aligns
with the needs of both your plan and its
participants. Walsh Duffield Retirement
Plan Solutions can take plan sponsors
through a thorough, qualitative and

“WALSH
DUFFIELD
RETIREMENT
PLAN SOLUTIONS
CAN HELP YOU
LIMIT YOUR
PLAN SPONSOR
FIDUCIARY RISK
RELATED TO
INVESTMENT
SELECTION AND
MONITORING.”
quantitative process for selecting a target
date series that best aligns with the
needs of your plan and participants.
4. REQUIRED NOTICES
The DOL mandates that several
participant notices be distributed

at various times throughout the
year, depending on which type of
retirement plan you offer. Ensuring
that you both understand which
notices must be distributed and find
a way to efficiently distribute them is
essential. Walsh Duffield Retirement
Plan Solutions can demystify which
notices are required, when they must be
distributed, and ev