Plans We Support
Florida Retirement Consultants (FRC) specializes in customized design, efficient implementation and expert administration of qualified retirement plans. We help you understand the important considerations involved in establishing a total retirement program for your business and your employees. We draft all necessary plan documents and forms and complete all the required steps to secure Internal Revenue Service (IRS) qualification for your plan. We invite you to partner with us to build a customized retirement plan solution to support your business goals.
FRC designs and administers a wide array of retirement plan solutions based on the unique and specific business needs of each client, including:
401(k), including Roth & Safe Harbor
A 401(k) plan is a defined contribution (DC) plan, typically a profit sharing plan that contains a cash or deferred arrangement as described in section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code. A cash or deferred arrangement is simply one that allows plan participants to elect to defer a portion of compensation—their elective deferrals—and have it contributed to the plan on their behalf, typically through payroll withholding.
The employer may contribute to the plan by matching all, or a portion, of the elective deferrals or by making non-elective, or profit sharing, contributions to all eligible participants.
401(k) Plans are ideal for:
- Employers who are initiating a plan due to employee demand.
- Employers wishing to maximize contributions.
- Employers wishing for discretionary contributions.
Defined Benefit
A Defined Benefit Plan (DB) is considered a traditional pension plan because it guarantees a monthly pension benefit for the life of the participant. A DB plan does not maintain account balances to reflect the accrued benefit of each participant, but must define a benefit formula that specifies how the benefits are accrued under that formula. This type of plan favors older employees with longer terms of service.
Defined Benefit Plans are ideal for:
- Employers who are older and have longer service than other employees.
- Employers wishing to maximize contributions.
- Employers with substantial financial resources.
- Employers with stable income.
Cash Balance
A Cash Balance Plan is a type of Defined Benefit Plan. By taking advantage of age and salary differences, a Cash Balance Plan tilts the contributions toward a desired employee or group of employees. Unlike a traditional Defined Benefit Plan however, a Cash Balance Plan provides a “hypothetical” account balance for the participants which accrues interest at a pre-defined government rate.
Cash Balance Plans are ideal for:
- Employers who are older than some of the staff employees.
- Employers desiring larger contributions for certain classes of employees.
- Employers with substantial financial resources.
- Employers with stable income.
Money Purchase
A Money Purchase plan is a defined contribution plan that is similar to a Profit Sharing plan except that the contribution amounts are fixed rather than variable. Thus, employers are required to make a contribution to the plan each year for the plan participants regardless of the company’s profitability for the year.
Money Purchase Plans are ideal for:
- Employers with substantial financial resources.
- Employers with stable income.
Cross Tested
A Cross Tested plan is a hybrid plan that combines features of both Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution plan generally to skew the employer contributions in favor of the older, higher paid employees. These plans provide the ability to create multiple benefit levels and are flexible in their contributions.
Cross-Tested Plans are ideal for:
- Employers who are older than some employees.
- Employers desiring larger contributions for themselves and possibly other key employees.
- Employers desiring flexible contributions.
ERISA 403(b)
A 403(b) plan (also called a tax-sheltered annuity or TSA plan) is a retirement plan offered by public schools and certain 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations. Employees save for retirement by contributing to individual accounts. Employers can also contribute to employees’ accounts.
403(b) plans are ideal for:
- Organizations who wish to offer flexibility in contributions.
- Organizations who wish to allow their employees to defer some of their salary, but may not wish to make employer contributions.
PEO/Multiple Employer Plans
Multiple-employer plans (MEPs) represent a way for employers that cannot afford—or don’t want to pay—the costs of administration, investments oversight and fiduciary responsibilities of a pension plan or 401(k) plan for their employees to receive such benefits in conjunction with other employers in similar situations.
MEP’s are ideal for:
- Smaller employers who don’t have the resources for retirement plan administration, regulatory compliance and investment expertise.
- Providing large company retirement benefits for the small-business market.
- Providing better investment performance and lower costs than a single employer plan.