Retirement Plan Design

Off-the-shelf 401(k) plans aren’t for everyone. That’s why our business retirement plan specialists begin by understanding your goals and help design the perfect plan to get you there.

Whether you need a 401(k) for your small business or a niche qualified retirement plan, we design the right plan for your unique business needs.

Plans Designed to Meet Your Goals

We focus on understanding your business needs and what you hope to accomplish with this benefit program, whether that’s maximizing tax savings, rewarding top performers, or providing incentives for employees.

We Work With Any Qualified Retirement Plan

We help you choose the best qualified plan for your business. Whether it is 401(k), 403(b), prevailing wage, ESOP, or a pension plan, we work with you to make sure the plan will meet your needs.

Flexibility for Maximum Benefit

Our personal administrators are familiar with your business. We’re always looking out for the best interests of the sponsor and regularly review the plan for optimum performance.

Learn more from our retirement plan specialists

Business retirement plans that offer more than a 401(k)

We’re able to design the right business retirement plan to fit your needs. We work with all types of qualified plans to help you meet your goals:

  • Prevailing wage
  • 403(b)
  • Governmental 457(b)
  • ROBS
  • ESOP
  • Defined benefit/pension
  • Cash balance

Our retirement plan specialists keep you on track for retirement so you can focus on running your business.

What was the best retirement plan for your business three years ago may not be what’s best for you now. We routinely review your plan and company demographics to make sure it’s working as intended. We’ll talk through any plan design changes that we think may be warranted in instances like:

  • Regulatory changes that impact your plan, employee benefits, or business savings
  • Introducing a family member into the company
  • Ownership interest in other companies by you or the company
  • How long someone should work for you before allowing them to benefit from a qualified retirement plan
  • Distribution options that are optional versus those that are actually required by the IRS

Since bundled providers are interested in keeping things simple, most employers aren’t aware of the flexibility that’s available in retirement plan design. We provide added value to our clients by concerning ourselves with the changes in their business or personal landscape to ensure their plans are providing the maximum benefit.

Retirement Plan Design Frequently Asked Questions

In order to participate in a tax-qualified plan the IRS requires a series of tests to be satisfied. These objective tests evaluate every type of contribution to the plan and measure how favorable the plan is working for employees classified as highly-compensated or an owner of the company sponsoring the plan. The amount you have to give to your employees each year must be at least the amount required to satisfy these tests. Some of these tests can be onerous but BRI helps you determine if any changes can be made to reduce these required contributions to your staff.

Your employee demographic can have a significant impact on plan testing, good or bad. Our staff are trained to recognize the potential for opportunity and increased expenses as your demographic shifts due to business decisions such as increased turnover or M&A activity. Keep us in the loop so we can make changes in advance to take advantage of your decisions!

There are basically four options: 1) Increase employee participation through engagement, incentives, or education (try all three!), 2) Make a company contribution to your employees sufficient to raise the average benefit, 3) Adopt a safe harbor provision in exchange for a mandatory company contribution to employees who participate, or 4) See if your TPA has attempted all available testing strategies before recommending a correction.

See our page on the current limits, but you’ll want to make sure your eligible compensation is sufficient to get to the annual maximum or else you’ll want to make up the difference with salary deferral contributions. Suffice it to say that employees make this endeavor inevitably more complicated, difficult, or impossible, in which case you’ll want to explore options outside the retirement plan!

Check out our blog on the subject (settle in)!

Benefit Resources Blog

Our blog and resource website section offers valuable insights and information on retirement benefits, helping you make informed decisions for a secure future. 

Helpful Resources

Choosing the Right Plan

Choosing the right plan for your business is paramount in the successful outcome of the plan.

Ultimate Tool Kit

A comprehensive overview of the important considerations when setting up a retirement plan