Educational Resources
Resources that may provide you and/or your client (individual or plan sponsor) information about general investing topics, retirement plans and planning, or otherwise equip you to better serve your clients.
Guide to Retirement Plans (165 KB, PDF)
The Guide to Retirement Plans helps an advisor identify the best type of plan to meet the needs of his or her clients and provides a comparison of many types of plans in an easy-to-read chart
Fiduciary Focus: New Retirement Plan Disclosure Regulations White Paper (557 KB, PDF)
This paper outlines in simple terms what you need to know to be prepared for both new DOL fee disclosure regulations, 408(b)(2) and 404(a)(5)
Fiduciary Focus: New Retirement Plan Disclosure Regulations Comparative Chart (317 KB, PDF)
This easy-to-read chart compares the two new DOL fee disclosure regulations and gives you an overview of what you need to know about each.
Fiduciary Focus: The New Disclosure Requirements for Participant-Directed Individual Account Plans White Paper (497 KB, PDF)
The new Department of Labor Regulation 404a-5 could send 72 million participants into their employer’s office with questions about their plan costs. This paper briefly discusses the new Regulation 404a-5 and some of the issues that advisers who have retirement plan business should consider.
Fiduciary Focus: The New Disclosure Requirements Participant Guide Brochure (223 KB, PDF)
This brochure outlines what will need to be disclosed and provides an explanation of these fees that may help advisors and plan sponsors respond to some anticipated questions from participants.
Fiduciary Focus: The New Fee Disclosure Under ERISA White Paper (433 KB, PDF)
The long-awaited rule on ERISA 408(b)(2) will be final and effective on April 1, 2012. This paper briefly discusses the new rule and some of the issues that advisers who have retirement plan business should consider.
Fiduciary Focus: What Advisors Should Know About the New Fee Disclosure Under ERISA Quick Guide (279 KB, PDF)
This short, summary brochure gives an at-a-glance overview of the new rule on ERISA 408(b)(2) and gives some suggestions for how to prepare for the rule.
Fiduciary Focus: The New Fee Disclosure Under ERISA – The Opportunity (240 KB, PDF)
This short, summary brochure gives an at-a-glance overview of the new rule on ERISA 408(b)(2) and discusses business building opportunities that you may encounter as a result of the rule.
Sample Retirement Plan Service Model (449 KB, PDF)
Advisors are uniquely qualified to help 401(k) plan sponsors fulfill their ERISA fiduciary obligations or take on these responsibilities on their behalf. This brochure outlines some common services you may wish to offer to a plan and its participants as part of your Retirement Plan Service Model or select groups of services that you will offer as packages.
Why Benchmarking Should be Part of Your Service Mode (300 KB, PDF)
As the advisor to the plan, you want to make sure the retirement plan that the plan sponsor is providing for his or her employees is the best it can be. This brochure discusses why benchmarking should be a part of your retirement plan service model.
Using Lessons from Behavioral Finance for Better Retirement Plan Design (232 KB, PDF)
This resource outlines several retirement saving behaviors, examines why employees behave this way and details the results of these behaviors. Once these are shared, an advisor can walk through suggestions about how to create a plan design to address the behavior, the intended result of these plan design actions and their benefits to the participant and the plan sponsor
401(k) Pre-Approach Prospecting Tools: Telephone Script (189 KB, PDF)
Getting started in the 401(k) Plan market is easier than you may think. You can use this telephone script to help you plan the call and guide your conversation.
401(k) Pre-Approach Prospecting Tools: Letter Template (162 KB, PDF)
Getting started in the 401(k) Plan market is easier than you may think. You can use this introductory letter template to help you get your foot in the door. The template may be re-typed on your letterhead and sent to plan sponsors.
What You Need to Know About the New 403(b) Regulations and Market (159 KB, PDF)
The long-awaited 403(b) regulations have changed the way 403(b) plans are designed and administered. This resource highlights some of the most significant items of the new regulations and how they will affect your clients’ 403(b) plans.
PLANADVISER interview with Jim Stueve, President, RidgeWorth Investments (video)
Jim discusses RidgeWorth’s view of changes in the retirement plan industry and how they will affect advisors in this market.
Fiduciary Focus: The Best Practices of Retirement Plan Committees White Paper (351 KB, PDF)
This white paper provides a step-by-step process for starting, structuring and managing a 401(k) plan committee.
Fiduciary Focus: Managing Your Plan’s Fees White Paper (655 KB, PDF)
The upcoming revision to ERISA Section 408(b)(2) is going to bring greater transparency to plan costs. This White Paper gives a plain-English explanation of plan fees and discusses actionable strategies that may help you to ensure that your plan fees are reasonable.
Benchmark the Defined Contribution Plan - Interactive Input Form (278 KB, PDF)
A growing number of retirement plan sponsors are finding that their plan has changed significantly over the past several years. This questionnaire and the plan benchmarking report generated from it will help you identify potential problems and opportunities with your plan sponsor clients. After filling out this questionnaire, use the interactive tool above to create a customized analysis that will provide you with a PDF output.
Fiduciary Checklist for Retirement Plans (172 KB, PDF)
The Fiduciary Checklist will help educate plan sponsors about the duties of a fiduciary and suggest questions to ask to make sure that third-party fiduciaries are meeting their obligations
Fiduciary Focus: The Well-Tempered Investment Policy Statement White Paper (343 KB, PDF)
Plan sponsors can meet their ERISA fiduciary obligations without having an investment policy statement (IPS) in place; however, a well-written investment policy statement provides a solid framework for managing a plan’s investment portfolio. By recognizing the crucial role of the IPS and making sure that it is current, fiduciaries maximize their effectiveness in serving plan participants and may help mitigate a source of fiduciary risk. This White Paper discusses the IPS and its role in detail.
Plan Contribution Limits (95 KB, PDF)
Download a chart listing the annual contribution limits for retirement savings accounts for 2012, as established by the Internal Revenue Service.
Benchmark the Plan Fees - Interactive Input Form (152 KB, PDF)
This questionnaire and the plan fee benchmarking report generated from it will help you determine how the fees that a plan pays compare to plans of the same size and in the same industry. After filling out this questionnaire, use the interactive tool to create a customized analysis that will provide you with a PDF output.
Fiduciary Focus: Defined Contribution Plan Investment Policy Statement Sample Template (262 KB, PDF)
This Investment Policy Statement (IPS) Template is suggested language for your use.
Fiduciary Focus: Investment Policy Statement Quick Overview (195 KB, PDF)
An investment policy statement (IPS) provides a framework for making and evaluating investment decisions. It also offers guidelines to ensure that everyone responsible for these decisions is acting in accordance with ERISA fiduciary guidelines. This Quick Overview gives a high level overview of the parts of the IPS and its role.
Procrastination could make your road to retirement more challenging (180 KB, PDF)
A review of the effect of procrastination on the accumulation of assets for retirement, graphically demonstrating that starting early can have a dramatic impact on both how much you need to contribute and how much you can accumulate over the long term
Small investments may stack up over time (147 KB, PDF)
A chart showing the potential accumulation from investing just $200 per month over time
Will you have enough money to live comfortably through retirement? (132 KB, PDF)
This chart shows the portions of your pre–retirement income that a recent study estimates will be provided by social security and what portion it estimates that you will need from savings and pensions