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401(k) Fiduciary Solutions: Expert Guidance for 401(k) Plan Sponsors on how to Effectively and Safely Manage Plan Compliance and Investments by ... Burden with Experienced Professionals Paperback – April 20, 2012

by Christopher Carosa (Author)
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 10 ratings
See all formats and editions
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Looking for the best and safest way to confidently run a 401(k) plan? Roger Wohlner calls this book “a vital reference tool for years to come.” All eyes are reading 401(k) Fiduciary Solutions – The Best Opportunity for 401(k) Plan Sponsors to Monitor Plan Compliance, Plan Investments and Share the Fiduciary Burden with Experienced Professionals.

Christopher Carosa had decades of hands-on experience in the field before becoming an award-winning journalist and Chief Contributing Editor of FiduciaryNews.com. Since then, he’s used his insider’s knowledge to write thousands of articles, along the way interviewing hundreds of retirement plan service providers, leading regulators, and industry thought leaders. He’s compiled the best of these to provide a fundamental “how-to” guide for anyone working within the retirement plan industry.

In an economy that demands focused attention, 401(k) plan sponsors must concentrate on their business, not its employee benefits. Each day headlines tell of new lawsuits involving 401(k). How can 401k plan sponsors reduce their fiduciary liability?

401(k) Fiduciary Solutions contains an exhaustive appendix filled with great resources and useful checklists that will help you quickly discover:

  • The 5 areas of fiduciary liability and the benchmarking template that best measures your plan.
  • Academic research that suggests how to help employees making good decisions along with an easy-to-implement approach to develop effective plan education.
  • The timeless issues experts and industry thought leaders say matter most and what industry pros have done to create better 401(k) plans.

401(k) Fiduciary Solutions covers all 401(k) compliance issues in a single well-organized source. It is written for plan managers, sponsors, and others with 401(k) plan fiduciary responsibilities. Looking for an informative reference guide that offers practical advice on how to actively monitor plan performance and regulatory compliance, especially in today’s ever-changing environment?

Buy 401(k) Fiduciary Solutions – The Best Opportunity for 401(k) Plan Sponsors to Monitor Plan Compliance, Plan Investments and Share the Fiduciary Burden with Experienced Professionals and add it to you reference collection now.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    320 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    April 20, 2012
  4. Dimensions
    6 x 0.73 x 9 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1938465008
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1938465000
  7. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"The collection of material Mr. Carosa has compiled in 401(k) Fiduciary Solutions is nothing short of extraordinary. Chris digs deeply into an expansive set of topics to extract the practical insights diligent fiduciaries can use on a daily basis as they work with their retirement plans."
  • Mike Alfred, Co-Founder & CEO, BrightScope, Inc., San Diego, California

    "In four acts, nine sections, 76 chapters and 320 pages, Chris provides a treasure trove of practical and invaluable information and insights for plan sponsors and financial advisors to 401(k) plans. If you wear either of these hats you MUST read this book."
    • Harold Evensky, CFP, AIF, President, Evensky & Katz, Miami, Florida

      "      401(k) Fiduciary Solutions provides clear, concise, must-know info to help plan sponsors successfully navigate their fiduciary responsibilities & truly serve the best interests of plan participants. Consistent with his stellar reputation as Chief Contributing Editor of FiduciaryNews.com, Chris Carosa demonstrates a knack for cutting through the clutter of investment, administrative, & regulatory issues plan sponsors face to uncover the essence of what the reader needs to know and points to great resources for more information."
      • Blaine F. Aikin, CEO, fi360, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

        "What sets this book apart from others I've seen in this space is the thoroughness of Chris's research, the variety of experts interviewed, and the breadth and depth of the topics covered. Additionally, the book flows seamlessly from expert to expert and topic to topic. If you are a plan sponsor or in any way provide service and advice to plan sponsors this is a must-have book for your library."
        • Roger Wohlner, Co-founder, Retirement Fiduciary Advisors, Arlington Heights, Illinois

          "Provocative yet conversational, Chris Carosa's book will terrify plan fiduciaries before guiding them on a simple path out of the darkness."
          • Jan Sackley, Fraud Examiner, PI, Fiduciary Consultant, Fiduciary Foresight, LLC, Kalamazoo, Michigan

From the Author

From the Preface:

Some time ago I met an electrical engineer at a FIRST robotics competition. After sharing our experiences as mentors for the young innovators who built and ran the robots, we spoke of our enthusiasm for promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics. My fellow mentor was somewhat surprised to learn that I took my Physics and Astronomy degree and promptly entered the field of investments and portfolio management.

Well, it wasn't too prompt. It also started during the height (make that the nadir) of the 1982 recession. I was desperate to accept any job. The offer from the investment firm just happened to be the first (and only) one that came along. Now, although the company was a successful investment adviser, my job was a rung below that of mail clerk. A glorified data entry typist, each day I would enter the data for the previous day's trades from which I'd print authorization letters my company would then send to the banks holding the clients' assets, instructing them they were authorized to settled said trades.

I thought this was an incredible waste of time and energy, not to mention personally demeaning. It didn't take a rocket scientist (ironic given my degree suggests I could indeed have become a rocket scientist) to determine we could build a rather powerful computer database out of the data I entered. Indeed, within a few short years, I had created such a system, which allowed my employer to move from using paper ledgers to enjoying the wonderful world of computing. Not only did it put me in a higher pay grade, it also got me out of typing those darned author-ization letters. This turned out to be a good thing because with the implementation of the Depository Trust Company about the same time, authorization letters became obsolete. (Not in the mind of the SEC, though, and a year or so later I helped draft a no-action letter to that government agency explaining this new electronic approval system.)

That same analytical thinking placed me in the perfect position for my superiors to tap me to help create their mutual funds, head up the firm's entire operations area (after being named a Managing Director at the ripe old age of 26), set up internal custodian operations, create and build their affiliated trust company (as Executive Vice President and Senior Trust Officer) and, ultimately, build and help oversee several common trust funds (as a member of the Trust and Investment Committee).

After all that hard work, and the desire to spend more time with my family, I decided to create my own firm. This firm would be a scaled down version of my former employer. As such, with a fully integrated information system from the get go, it would be more manageable with fewer people. The Internet certainly helped.

Truth be told, my original intention upon leaving my old firm was to write a book to help everyday investors make better decisions. After 150 pages of outline, I figured it was too long and would never sell. With a young family in need of daily feeding, I had to think of some way to provide for them. I looked to the only business model I knew I could turn profitable in the shortest amount of time.

I told the electrical engineer this whole story and a little bit more. Rather than dying from boredom, he seemed genuinely intrigued. A moment later his eyes fell to the floor and flitted back and forth as he shyly inquired, "Do you mind if I ask you a personal question -- about me, I mean, not you?"

"Sure," I said. He had my curiosity.

Still somewhat embarrassed, he asked, "Do I have enough to retire?"

This is what I knew about him: He worked for a large firm but wasn't top management. He had been working since graduate school and was in his mid-fifties. His oldest child was about to start college and he had a couple more. He lived in a modest house in a small rural community that's more Midwest than east or west coast. It's more rustbelt than sunbelt.

Here's what I know about that question: I hated it. I've read so many stories of people not having enough to retire. I've met so many people who never thought of saving for retirement. I really hate being the bearer of bad news.

Perhaps he saw this in my hesitation when he meekly offered, "My 401(k) plan is well north of a million dollars."

I smiled and explained that, although he wasn't alone in his savings level, he was much better off than many of his counterparts.

After the robotics tournament, I thought about his situation and how so many people really do share his good fortune. In fact, Thomas Stanley and William Danko's 1996 bestseller The Millionaire Next Door describes the phenomenon I'm talking about. It's about how everyday people, living a life of modest discipline, can accumulate retirement assets into seven figures. And I mean seven figures even after the 2007-2009 market debacle.

Unfortunately, while the 401(k) plan offers an excellent means for workers to meet their retirement needs, it remains a far too underutilized tool. Two reasons rise to explain this. First, the average worker does not take advantage of the clear economic opportunity afforded by the 401(k), specifically through the employer match. Academic research shows people regularly -- and inexplicably -- turn away from these no-strings-attached free money offers.

Academic research also suggests reliable solutions to prevent these poor decisions, which brings us to our second problem. Typical 401(k) plan sponsors find themselves consumed by the rigors of the particular rat race in which they've chosen to compete. They simply can't spend the time needed to fine-tune their retirement plan. Worse, to the extent they do devote that time to their 401(k) plan, they expend far too much of it trying to avoid fiduciary liability.

That got me to thinking. What if I interviewed folks from across the country who could reveal best-of-breed solutions and then share those solutions with 401(k) plan sponsors throughout the land? I got the chance to do precisely this thanks to Pandamensional Solutions, Inc., which publishes FiduciaryNews.com, a website providing essential information, blunt commentary and practical examples for ERISA/401(k) fiduciaries, individual trustees and professional fiduciaries. This led to other publishing venues and, with more than 300 articles published in paper, print and on the web, I soon found my readers asking for a book; hence the birth of this volume, 401(k) Fiduciary Solutions -- Expert Guidance for 401(k) Plan Sponsors on how to Effectively and Safely Manage Plan Compliance and Investments by Sharing the Fiduciary Burden with Experienced Professionals.

I hope you find this book as enjoyable to read as it was for me to write and as useful a tool as there can be in today's challenging and ever changing 401(k) environment.

  • Christopher Carosa, Mendon, New York, April 27, 2012

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pandamensional Solutions, Inc. (April 20, 2012)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1938465008
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1938465000
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.73 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 10 ratings

About the author

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Christopher Carosa

Christopher Carosa

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Christopher Carosa was born on the third floor of Mercy Hospital in Buffalo, New York on a hot summer morning in mid-July, 1960. Barely a Kindergartner, he and his younger brother produced a daily newspaper (for just one day, and mainly as an excuse to type on their mother's vintage typewriter). He conducted his first public reading in first grade at the age of six, where he read a story he wrote about "Herbie the Helicopter" (sort of like "the little train that could" except with rotors instead of wheels).

Later, as a teenage rebel who detested all things literature and English class, he once joined with a small band of classmates in tenth grade who refused a class assignment to read a novel and write an analysis of it. The teacher gave each of the renegade students a stern choice: "either do the assignment or write your own novel." While all his friends bowed to their instructor and did the assignment, Mr. Carosa held firm. He wrote his first novel "Armageddon" (a geo-political sci-fi epic set in the not-so-distant future). His teacher gave him an "A" and went so far as to suggest the budding scientist might have a dual career as a writer a la Isaac Asimov.

The young Carosa laughed at the suggestion, but remained a closet author, coming out rarely and when it was least expected. He agreed to serve as treasurer of his high school literary magazine Equinox, but only if the editors agreed to publish his sophomoric send-up of Star Trek. They reluctantly acceded to his demands. He went on to oversee a then record-breaking sale of the flimsy carbon-copy annual, mostly by offering to personally autograph every copy sold ("You never know," he told unsuspecting buyers, "I might be famous some day.")

Despite his best efforts, such as organizing a union of AP English Students (U.A.P.E.S.) and leading a "strike" where the entire class skipped one day, he passed his English classes. He found his antics fared no better in college, where his mocking essays failed to incite the professor, who instead enjoyed them for their "change of pace."

Now a full-fledged adult, Carosa began writing in earnest the last few weeks of his college career. With hours of computer time left in his account and his senior thesis complete, he spent his remaining time using an archaic word processor to create entertaining tidbits for his friends.

And that was it.

The author within him went into hiding. He still wrote, but no one knew. He accumulated pages and pages, then floppy disks and floppy disks and then finally hard drives full of creative content. Some of it will never see the light of day (and probably shouldn't). Some of it you see here and will continue to see.

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
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Top reviews from the United States

Dale
5.0 out of 5 stars 401(k) Fiduciary Solutions Review
Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2013
Verified Purchase
I consider Christopher Carosa's "401(K) Fiduciary Solutions Review" a required, fundamental text book for pension practitioners in this day and age of fiduciary expertise and focus. I bought it from Amazon, and they have other similar texts of interest. I'm particularly impressed with Carosa's topical categorizations in this book, as outlined in the Table of Contents. Acts I through IV are composed of nine numbered Sections; Act I has Sections One and Two; Act II has Sections Three through Five; etc. The reader will identify with the overall topic of each Section, so as to be able to come back to that Section for further reference within that topic. I consider this is a clever manipulation of the many and varied topics that we pension practitioners must try to carry around in our over-loaded minds. As example, let's list a few topics in Section Three: "2010 White Paper Reveals the Three Gretest Fiduciary Liability Threats to 401(k) Plan Sponsors"; "5 Criteria 401(k) Plan Sponsors Must Consider When Hiring an ERISA Attorney"; "5 Important Duties Every ERISA Fiduciary Must Fulfill," etc. Chris writes as well and as much as any person I follow in the pension field. Each of his pubs instantly become part of my technical library. He has the courage to give his opinions and quote reinforcement from other experts. For example: his inclusion of excepts by Patrick Burke on the subject of the "Fiduciary Report Card.": "Bundled providers', brokers' and financial intermediaries' operating models cannot be considered best in class due to their inherent and unsolvable conflict..." That's telling it like it is! This isn't a big book; it's a little over 300 pages and fits easily into the briefcase for ease of reading while (e.g.) awaiting a scheduled meeting. I heartily recommend this publication to anyone in our field.
Dale F. Smith, QPA, ERPA, Consulting Principal, Pension Plan Professionals, Inc., Jacksonville, FL
3 people found this helpful
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Logical thinker
5.0 out of 5 stars A necessity if your work with 401k's
Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2019
Verified Purchase
This is absolutely indispensable if you work with 401k's as an advisor or plan sponsor. The Fiduciary obligations in the 401k world are complex and come with substantial penalties if violated. This is the best overall review of the obligations that all plan sponsors face and will help those to advise them offer sound advice.
One person found this helpful
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d
5.0 out of 5 stars Required Reading for 401(k) Plan Sponsors and Fiduciaries
Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2014
Verified Purchase
Chris' book is required reading and an ongoing go to reference guide for anyone in HR/Benefits acting as plan sponsor, handling administration or fiduciary oversight to 401(k) Plans. I found the book to be particularly helpful in preparing for a DOL audit on our plan which we ended up passing with flying colors. Great job with this book Chris
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R. Wayne Williams
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent text! I found this to be very informative ...
Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2015
Verified Purchase
Excellent text! I found this to be very informative and covered issues of which I was unaware. The checklists that are provided were invaluable.
2 people found this helpful
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Michael Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars A must have reference for any fiduciary dedicated to the retirement plan industry
Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2014
As someone who serves as a retirement plan consultant and investment advisor in a fiduciary capacity, I find that Mr. Carosa's expert guidance in this single reference source is the tool that I consistently turn to for support, amongst a library of alternatives. Thank you Chris!
2 people found this helpful
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