Retirement Plans

Retirement Plans and How to Make Them Work with Tom Ackmann (podcast)

September 15, 2022

Tom Ackmann is a principal and senior retirement plan advisor at SYM Financial Advisors, an RIA firm with a long history of serving plan sponsors and their employees. He previously worked as the Vice President of Baden Retirement Plan Services and the Vice President for Ascensus. At SYM, Tom leads a team that advises over 100 corporate clients and 10,000 participants. Tom holds a degree in Communications/Political Science from Concordia University Chicago. Tom joins me

How 401k Eligibility Changes with The SECURE ACT

December 31, 2020

Background on 401k Eligibility Prior to the passage of the SECURE Act, employers could exclude long-term part-time employees (LTPT employees) that worked fewer than 1,000 hours per year from employer 401k contributions. This was done by implementing a one year of service waiting period requirement. The “one-year service” was defined as a 12 consecutive month period where the employee worked at least 1,000 hours. How 401k Eligibility Changes with The SECURE Act The SECURE Act

The Difference between a 3(21) and 3(38) Fiduciary

May 12, 2020

Retirement plan advisors can serve in a 3(21) or 3(38) fiduciary capacity or in some cases, both. The needs and desires of the plan sponsor dictate the specific arrangements. Such decisions are normally predicated upon risk mitigation versus risk avoidance. While some plan sponsors want assistance with their fiduciary responsibilities but elect to maintain discretion and control of their plan’s investment menus, others will choose to shift fiduciary responsibilities to a third party due to

Business Owners and the SECURE Act

December 27, 2019

For the first time since the passage of the Pension Protection Act (PPA) in 2006, Congress forwarded and the president signed a major piece of retirement legislation. Referred to as the Setting Every Community up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE Act), the law includes a number of provisions that will undoubtedly change the retirement landscape. Although it is early and specific details are scant, we thought we would take the opportunity to comment on a

Paying to Earn, Paying to Save: Guidance for Business Owners – 401(k) podcast

March 6, 2018

A few dollars here, a few dollars there – over the course of years and decades, these dollars add up. Still, most retirement investors – and retirement plan sponsors – have little or no idea how much of their retirement savings is lost each quarter to fees. Join Tom Ackmann, SYM Vice President and Qualified Plan Advisor, and Michelle Hipskind, Financial Advisor, for a succinct and sometimes surprising “inside look” at the workings of fee