Small Business Association of Michigan 401(k) Retirement Plan Exchange® Solution
Small Business Association of Michigan 401(k) Retirement Plan Exchange® is a complete, cost-effective, turnkey retirement solution.
The Small Business Association of Michigan has partnered with Transamerica to help employers spend more time running their business, not their retirement plan. The Small Business Association of Michigan 401(k) Retirement Plan Exchange solution handles administrative duties, reduces your risk, and is cost-effective.
What is it?
The Small Business Association of Michigan 401(k) Retirement Plan Exchange® uses Transamerica's 401(k) Retirement Plan Exchange® solution platform. It is based on sound structural elements that have been developed over the past 20 years, reviewed and successfully tested to accept fiduciary responsibilities specified by ERISA law and IRS and Department of Labor (DOL) regulations while striving to provide compliance assurance with those regulations in order to reduce fines and penalties.
Advantages
Five advantages with the Small Business Association of Michigan 401(k) Retirement Plan Exchange®
Making it simple
Employers don't want to be 401(k) experts.
As the plan's third party administrator, TAG Resources oversees plan setup, implementation, monitoring, enrollment, and other duties.
Fiduciary protection
Employers don’t want to be at risk.
By shifting administrative and certain named fiduciary duties to TAG Resources, employers can mitigate most defined legal obligations and responsibilities.
Compliant
Employers don’t want fines or penalties.
The plan uses processes developed to administer plans to be DOL and IRS compliant.
Well-known providers
Employers want to work with industry leaders.
The Retirement Plan Exchange® solution combines industry-leading professional service providers for "end-to-end" retirement plan oversight, including robust tools and resources for employees.
Cost-effective
Employers don’t want to overpay.
The Retirement Plan Exchange® solution is built on a pooled pricing model and often costs less than other programs offering fewer comprehensive services.
Administrative responsibilities
The Small Business Association of Michigan 401(k) Retirement Plan Exchange® removes more than 90% of your administrative tasks compared to a single-employer plan.
Your load is lighter with the Small Business Association of Michigan Retirement Plan Exchange®
As a retirement plan sponsor, your responsibilities* are to select and monitor service providers and:
- Upload payroll files**
- Collect year-end data**
Without the Small Business Association of Michigan Retirement Plan Exchange®, your responsibilities are:
- 3(38) Investment Manager appointment, monitoring, and removal (if applicable)
- 402(g) limit on elective deferrals reporting
- 404(a)(5) Participant Fee Disclosure provided to sponsor for distribution (or directly to plan participants, as applicable)
- 404(c) Participant Direction of Investments Disclosure provided to sponsor for distribution (or directly to plan participants, as applicable)
- 415 limit on annual contributions
- Annual discrimination & coverage testing
- Automatic Enrollment Notice provided to sponsor for distribution (or directly to plan participants, as applicable)
- Beneficiary determinations
- Blackout Notice provided to sponsor for distribution (or directly to plan participants, as applicable)
- Census review
- Corrective distributions
- Death benefit approval
- Distribution approval, such as in-service distributions, plan terminations, and termination of service
- Distribution processing
- DOL and IRS issue resolution assistance
- Eligibility calculations
- Eligibility notifications
- Error correction monitoring
- Force out distribution processing
- Form 5330 preparation, signing & filing
- Form 5500 preparation, signing, & filing
- Form 8955 preparation, signing & filing
- Fund Change Notice provided to sponsor for distribution (or directly to plan participants, as applicable)
- Hardship withdrawal approval
- Loan approval & reporting (if applicable)
- Loan default monitoring
- Loan policy administration
- Lost earnings calculations
- Participant termination date tracking & maintenance
- Payroll aggregation
- Plan design review upon request
- Plan document interpretation
- Plan document preparation
- Qualified Default Investment Alternative (QDIA) notice provided to sponsor for distribution (or directly to plan participants, as applicable)
- Obtaining ERISA Fidelity Bond
- Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) determinations
- Required Minimum Distributions (RMD) monitoring
- Safe Harbor Notice provided to sponsor for distribution (or directly to plan participants, as applicable)
- Summary Annual Report (SAR) provided to sponsor for distribution (or directly to plan participants, as applicable)
- Summary of Material Modifications (SMM) provided to sponsor for distribution (or directly to plan participants, as applicable)
- Summary Plan Description (SPD) provided to sponsor for distribution (or directly to plan participants, as applicable)
- Vesting verification & tracking
- Year-end data collection & review
DOL audits can be costly for your business!
The IRS penalty for late filing of a 5500-series return is $25 per day, up to a maximum of $15,000. The DOL penalty for late filing can run up to $1,100 per day, with no maximum.
As named fiduciaries on your plan, we will mitigate this risk for you.
Core benefits
Removes pressure
Takes pressure off your internal administrative resources and allows you to use those resources elsewhere.
ERISA support
Provides access to service providers with ERISA and investment expertise.
Fiduciary responsibility
TAG delivers fiduciary protection at the highest level.
Work with investment professionals
Outsources investment selection responsibility to investment professionals.
Over 20 years of experience
Experience over enthusiasm
Retirement plan providers are currently struggling to deal with pooled structures. Many are enthusiastically working with pooled plans, such as pooled employer plans (PEPs), for the first time. Transamerica has been an innovator in pooled structures for nearly 25 years. Our experience has helped employers understand how to structure the plan to get the best savings and protection available to you.
We have a proven track record of understanding employers’ needs and effectively meeting those needs.
Additionally, retirement plans carry significant fiduciary liability and government compliance exposure for employers. The Small Business Association of Michigan 401(k) Retirement Plan Exchange® outsources most fiduciary responsibilities and compliance to TAG Resources to the highest extent available. While most retirement plans do not offer this level of fiduciary and compliance assistance, TAG works as your retirement department by becoming a signatory named fiduciary on your retirement plan.
Participant experience
Driving participant success
The Transamerica participant experience is designed to help people understand if their savings and investment strategy is in line with their retirement goals. It starts with enrollment and continues with personalized communications and financial education showing participants how they can improve their retirement readiness.
An easy-to-understand forecast is generated by the underlying methodology provided by Morningstar. Using simple weather icons, it shows participants if their current investment strategy is likely to produce the income they’re seeking in retirement and offers steps to improve their chances of achieving their goals. Your Retirement Outlook® is featured prominently on the participant website, mobile app, and quarterly statements.
Key partnerships
Small Business Association of Michigan
The Small Business Association of Michigan (SBAM) is the only statewide and state-based association that focuses solely on serving the needs of Michigan’s small business community. We have been successfully serving small businesses in all 83 counties of Michigan since 1969. Our mission is the success of Michigan’s small businesses.
Plan administrator
TAG Resources
TAG Resources is the plan administrator and a named fiduciary, as defined under ERISA sections 402(a), 3(16), and 3(21). It is our job to perform all functions necessary to keep your plan compliant.
As such, TAG Resources is responsible for the day-to-day operations of your plan. The functions we perform on your behalf include: the signing and filing of the Form 5500, QDRO determinations, service of legal process related to the plan, plan operations, participant claims and appeals, distributions, beneficiary determinations, including any related extensions to the plan.
Recordkeeper
Transamerica
Transamerica is an industry-leading recordkeeper with over 20 years of experience with pooled arrangements. Their time-tested recordkeeping technology offers a proven infrastructure allowing for pooled arrangements, ensuring a plan will be administered successfully and accurately for the plan participant’s transition to retirement.
Investment manager
Graystone Consulting
For over 35 years, Graystone Consulting – Farmington Hills has delivered insightful solutions and best-in-class service to institutional investors, small business owners, and corporate leaders. Mark J. Rogers, CIMA®, and Gary W. Jbara, CIMA®, CRPS®, lead a collaborative team of eleven investment professionals. The group offers advanced resources and fiduciary services for the administration of retirement plans. Graystone Consulting – Farmington Hills is supported by a large and experienced team of investment, financial wellness, legal and compliance, and risk professionals at Morgan Stanley working to help improve retirement outcomes for employees while helping employers adhere to rigorous ERISA standards. The team helps small business owners integrate their company into their retirement and wealth transfer plans. © 2021 Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC. Member SIPC. Graystone Consulting is a business of Morgan Stanley.