What is LifeCycle 401k?
LifeCycle 401k is a retirement plan (401k or other) + very powerful yet easy to use online self-service administration and participation center.
Read on for further details, including about two related but alternative 401k products: The 401k Solution, which costs a bit more but offers full-service plan administration along with self-service online plan participation very similar to that offered within LifeCycle 401k, and 401k Easy for the PC, an offline self-service plan administration product.
Our IRS-approved prototype 401k plan allows for significant plan design flexibility - to include or exclude 401k loans, for instance, and/or employer contributions, automatic participant enrollment, safe harbor administration, and more. You can read about our plan
design options below and, in more detail, in our Customization & Order section.
Our IRS-approved prototype plan allows for unprecedented investment flexibility
(see next topic). Investment flexibility is one of our plans' most popular design features, both with employers and their employees.
Any authorized person with rudimentary computer and Internet skills can use LifeCycle 401k to sponsor and/or participate in a 401k plan.
LifeCycle 401k can accommodate 401k plans of any size, from the single-person plan to the gargantuan.
All access is user-name and password protected; enterprise-level security features and safeguards are standard throughout.
Any person with access to the Internet can access LifeCycle 401k. High-speed Internet access in not necessary. (For you techies out there, the system uses pure html - aka, "thin" content - rather than Java Applets and similar coding that can slow down load times and processing).
Read the below Security & Technology sections for details.
Small businesses using LifeCycle 401k typically run their 401k plans in less than 15 minutes a month. That's because LifeCycle 401k is highly automated. We customize your plan administration and plan participation centers - called, respectively, your Plan Sponsor and Plan Participant Gateways - to the plan design features you select for your company plan.
Visit our Product Demos section to read about each gateway's features and to try out fully-functioning demo systems (for free, of course).
You do NOT need 401k administration or accounting experience to run a 401k plan via LifeCycle 401k. The online software knows 401k rules and regulations. You feed it payroll data, and it does most of the rest for you.
There is content-sensitive help, should you need it, as well as additional support. Visit our
Support sections for details.
One of the ways LifeCycle 401k keeps your plan administration life simple is by helping you circumvent problems. For instance, the system runs IRS compliance tests in seconds at a mouse click, making it easy for you to stay on top of your plan's health. The system automatically assesses which tests are applicable to your 401k plan based on encoded criteria. The system even uses prevailing federal regulations to calculate compliance test correction suggestions.
LifeCycle 401k is fully operational 24 hours a day, seven days a wee. All functions are live all the time. The system not only allows you to view and submit data at any time from any location connected to the Internet, but it also IMMEDIATELY processes all requests and submissions, regardless of the time of day or day of the week.
Unlike with other "online" 401k systems, data you submit to LifeCycle 401k is processed WITHIN the system, not downloaded by someone at the other end, processed by back-office personnel, then re-uploaded - often days, not seconds, later.
LifeCycle 401k is designed to quickly connect and integrate with virtually all Voice Response Units (Virus), wireless software applications and application service providers (ASPs).
Please contact us for details.
Read on for further details, including about two related but alternative 401k products: The 401k Solution, which costs a bit more but offers full-service plan administration along with self-service online plan participation very similar to that offered within LifeCycle 401k, and 401k Easy for the PC, an offline self-service plan administration product.
Why do companies choose LifeCycle 401k? Unmatched affordability, Unmatched investment flexibility, and unmatched convenience
LifeCycle 401k is THE 401k for today's businesses for a variety of reasons:
LifeCycle 401k costs of fraction of competing 401ks (not to mention that our pricing is a simple function of plan size; we do not nickel-and-dime over features and services).
Visit our Pricing page to view pricing and price comparison charts.
LifeCycle 401k is very easy to use. Saving money by choosing our self-service approach does NOT mean you spend hours online managing your 401k plan, nor is any accounting or 401k administration knowledge necessary. For most small businesses, LifeCycle 401k self-service plan administration takes less than 15 minutes a month. Read on for mention of some of the features and functionality that keep the process simple for our end-users.
LifeCycle 401k allows for the ultimate in investment flexibility. No-load mutual funds (including no-load institutional mutual funds), load mutual funds, self-directed brokerage accounts and more from brand name houses are among those that you can choose for your plan. You can even mix and match as you please.
Visit our Investments page for lists of potential investments as well as some tips about selecting investments for a company 401k plan. Oh, and by the way, we are not affiliated with any investment company nor do we receive commissions or any other compensation from such.
LifeCycle 401k means that employers and employees alike have 24/7, password-protected access to their 401k from any device that is connected to the Internet. Particularly if your company and its employees are comfortable with using online banking and other online services, LifeCycle 401k is likely the 401k for you.
Data is always current, because processing occurs immediately; there is no processing lag as with some online systems.
We customize your LifeCycle 401k system to your needs and preferences, both in terms of the 401k plan itself and its related self-service 401k plan administration and participation functions. Free help is available with understanding your customization options and the effects specific choices generally have on 401k plans similar in size to your own.
Self-service plan administration is both simple and powerful
LifeCycle 401k's Plan Sponsor Gateway opens the world of self-service 401k administration to the personnel you authorize. The exact features and capabilities accessible through your gateway
depend on the customization options you choose for your company plan and its administration.
Visit our demo page to read more about the LifeCycle 401k Plan Sponsor Gateway. You can even try out a demo customized system and tour through typical administrative functions.
Access is user-name and password protected. Only those individuals you authorize can enter your company's Plan Sponsor Gateway.
Functions are separated into two streams: plan configuration functions
(click to view details) control overall plan information and operation parameters,
while day-to-day plan administration functions (click to view details) power and monitor day-to-day administrative activity.
Visit our demo page to read more about the LifeCycle 401k Plan Sponsor Gateway. You can even try out a demo customized system and tour through typical administrative functions.
Self-service plan participation is both quick and complete
LifeCycle 401k's Plan Participant Gateway opens the world of self-service 401k participation and information to your company employees. The exact features and capabilities accessible through the gateway depend on
the customization options you choose for your company plan as well as those that the eligible employee chooses for his or her individual 401k account (for example, his or her 401k investment selections). Each employee has his or her own customized Plan Participant Gateway.
LifeCycle 401k empowers plan participants to serve themselves to their 401k account activity and information - at any time, day or night, from any location connected to the Internet.
Visit our demo page to read more about the LifeCycle 401k Plan Participant Gateway. You can even try out a demo customized system and tour through typical participation functions, including access to general as well as plan-specific 401k and related investing information.
LifeCycle 401k empowers plan participants to serve themselves to their 401k account activity and information - at any time, day or night, from any location connected to the Internet.
LifeCycle 401k self-service plan participation gives eligible employees on-the-spot access to enrolling in the plan, choosing 401k investments, updating personal information and investment designations, viewing/printing activity reports and account statements, and 401k loan, transfer and distribution modeling and/or new submissions, among other things.
Self-service plan participation is extremely convenient for plan participants and can greatly boost plan participation rates.
Self-service plan participation means less work for your in-house plan administrator.
Visit our demo page to read more about the LifeCycle 401k Plan Participant Gateway. You can even try out a demo customized system and tour through typical participation functions, including access to general as well as plan-specific 401k and related investing information.
The money-back guarantee - you're never locked in
Your LifeCycle 401k system comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee on everything but the one-time $595 setup fee you pay at your plan's outset for us to customize your 401k plan its related online plan administration and plan participation portals.
Because the setup fee is nonrefundable, we have created demo systems for people to try out before purchasing anything.
Go to our Product Demos page to access the demos. They are fully functioning versions of our actual 401k plan administration and participation systems.
Nearly all 401k features and capabilities are active in the LifeCycle 401k demo, so you can truly get a feel for what it is like to use LifeCycle 401k to administrate and participate in a 401k plan.
Also know that, should you ever decide that you no longer want to use our self-service online system, we can convert your 401k plan to one that you can have run in a traditional manner by the 401k vendor of your choice. We can even help you find a qualified 401k plan administration service,
if you like.
if you like.