An "Online" versus "Off-Line" 401k plan - product comparisons
Our "online" and "offline" products differ in a few key ways.
Whether you choose one of our online products (LifeCycle 401k or the full-service administration version, The 401k Solution) or our offline product, 401(k) Easy for the PC, we customize your system to the plan and administration design options you choose. Contact us if you have any questions about the differences between the products or want help evaluating which best suits your company's retirement plan needs.
Where the Software Is Housed: In our online plans, the software used to process your retirement plan data and by which you and your employees access information about your company plan and interact with it is housed on secure servers that you access online (via the Internet). This means that you and your employees have access to your customized system anywhere you can connect to the Internet. In contrast, in our offline plans, your plan-specific software is housed on your desktop PC.
What the Software Can Do: In our online plans, your customized system handles both user-accessible plan administration as well as plan participation. That is, not only do authorized administrators (whether you, if using our self-serve product, LifeCycle 401k, or our professional personnel, if using the full-service product, The 401k Solution) have anytime, anywhere access to the system, but so do your employees. They can log into the Plan Participation Gateway via almost any Internet connection to read about your company plan, join it, select and alter personal investment choices, model and apply for 401k loans (if your company chooses to offer such within its plan), monitor account balances, print account statements, and more. In contrast, in our offline plans, plan participation is done the old-fashioned way: via paper. Plan-specific forms and information are housed within the PC-based software and can be printed for employees on an as-needed basis.
Renewal: With both our online and offline products, the right to use the software systems comes with payment of your annual fee (see our
Pricing section for details). For online product users, upgrades to the new year's software occurs transparently; we update everything on our end, and you do not have to do anything. In contrast, for our offline customers, they receive a CD of their upgraded software, which they then load into their PC; this takes only a few moments.
Price: As you might expect, our online products cost a bit more than the offline, simpler product.
Whether you choose one of our online products (LifeCycle 401k or the full-service administration version, The 401k Solution) or our offline product, 401(k) Easy for the PC, we customize your system to the plan and administration design options you choose. Contact us if you have any questions about the differences between the products or want help evaluating which best suits your company's retirement plan needs.
Product 1: LifeCycle 401k
online self-service plan administration + participation
online self-service plan administration + participation
LifeCycle 401k is by far our most popular 401k, particularly with small and medium-sized businesses. This web site of course explains in detail all that LifeCycle 401k has to offer; here are a few of the highlights that clients tell us particularly drew them to the product and have them staying with it year after year:
Price - Our clients find the setup fee and annual fee associated with LifeCycle 401k extremely palatable.
Investment Volume + Flexibility - The array of investments available via LifeCycle 401k is another big draw. Not only do clients favor the extensive array of investments allowed, they also like that we are not affiliated with any investment house and that we do not charge any fees regarding investments.
Ease of Use - Most clients find spending 15 or so minutes a month on LifeCycle 401k well worth the thousands of dollars a year of savings in 401k administration fees charged by most full-service plan providers.
Expertise - Clients......
Visit our Product Demos page to learn more and to try out a sample customized online system.
Visit our Product Demos page to learn more and to try out a sample customized online system.
Product 1b: LifeCycle 401k for one
for one-person companies
for one-person companies
The 401k plan's popularity lies in that it enables people to shelter a significant portion of their income from current income taxes. In some cases, a 401k plan enables a person to shelter more than twice as much as do other qualified retirement plans (money purchase pension plans, simplified employee pension (SEP) plans and savings incentive match plans for employees (SIMPLEs), more specifically). Until recently, however, a 401k plan needed multiple plan participants. It was not an option for one-person companies and the like - again, that is, until 2002. The one-person 401k plan is now a reality.
As the name suggests, LifeCycle 401k for One is a version of our most popular product, LifeCycle 401k, written to meet the regulatory, administrative and participation needs specific to one-person 401k plans.
Below are some key draws of the one-person 401k plan in general:
You can read further about one-person plans on our 401k Basics page.
As the name suggests, LifeCycle 401k for One is a version of our most popular product, LifeCycle 401k, written to meet the regulatory, administrative and participation needs specific to one-person 401k plans.
LifeCycle 401k for One is for owner-only businesses (including spouse) and businesses with employees that can be legally excluded from participating in the company plan.
LifeCycle 401k for One costs $695 per year + a one-time, first-year-only set-up fee of $595.
LifeCycle 401k for One allows for the same immensely broad spectrum of no-load investments as well as self-directed brokerage accounts as is available with our multipartite LifeCycle 401k plans (investment flexibility not common in most one-person 401k plans).
LifeCycle 401k for One allows for 401k loans.
LifeCycle 401k for One allows for the spouse to participate, too.
LifeCycle 401k for One can affordably be converted into a multi-participant 401k plan, should the need arise (if your company expands and takes on additional employees, for instance).
LifeCycle 401k for One can process rollovers from SEP, SARSEP, SIMPLE IRA, traditional IRA, rollover IRA, Keogh, 401k, 403b and 457 plans.
Below are some key draws of the one-person 401k plan in general:
The employer/business owner may contribute up to $41,000 per year, depending on income.
401k contributions come from "pre-tax" dollars. Contributions are not subject to income tax until withdrawn from the 401k account.
Earnings on 401k investments are also tax-deferred until withdrawn.
Salary deferrals can equal up to 100% of compensation, up to an annually-adjusted maximum of $15,000 (as of 2008).
Profit-sharing contributions up to 25% of salary can also be made.
Participants age 50 and older can contribute an additional "catch-up" contribution of up to $5,000 annually (as of 2008).
Tax-deferred retirement savings housed within a 401k or other authorized plan are generally excluded from bankruptcy proceedings. Outstanding 401k loans, however, are generally NOT erased by bankruptcy.
You can read further about one-person plans on our 401k Basics page.
Product 2: The 401k solution
online full-service plan administration + self-service plan participation
online full-service plan administration + self-service plan participation
Pension Service Associates (PSA) has been a trailblazer in the 401k industry for decades. The company has concentrated primarily on the largely-ignored needs of small and mid-sized companies. in fact, our LifeCycle 401k product grew out of innovations made by PSA.
PSA offers an affordable line of full-service plans - The 401k Solution - that participants rank among the most popular plans in the nation. The plans offer online plan participation similar to that offered within LifeCycle 401k but all administration duties are handled by PSA personnel (that is, your company does NOT need to do any self-service plan administration).
For more information about PSA's 401k Solution as well as the company's other retirement plan offerings - 403b plans, SEPs, IRA's and any other IRS-sanctioned retirement savings plan - visit the 401k Solution web site, www.401k-solution.com, or call (800) 595-4015.
PSA offers an affordable line of full-service plans - The 401k Solution - that participants rank among the most popular plans in the nation. The plans offer online plan participation similar to that offered within LifeCycle 401k but all administration duties are handled by PSA personnel (that is, your company does NOT need to do any self-service plan administration).
PSA's 401k Solution is adaptable to companies of any size. Small-company plans are NOT truncated versions of big company plans.
Part of PSA's 401k "solution" is affordability without reduced service. By offering of variety of investment mix-plan pricing approaches, companies can choose whether to absorb all the costs of the plan, split the costs with the plan's participants, or have the plan's participants absorb the costs.
PSA's 401k plans see participation rates that are often nearly TWICE the national average. Investment choice, prompt service, and plan flexibility play major roles in the popularity of 401k Solution plans.
As with LifeCycle 401k, 401k Solution plans allow for automatic participant enrollment, 401k loans and other popular features. They also offer outstanding investment flexibility akin to that offered LifeCycle 401k clients.
A typical 401k Solution 401k plan serving 25 eligible employees costs $1,895 a year, depending on the type of investments chosen.
The national average for a 401k serving 25 eligible employees is $6,750 to $20,000 a year (and these competitors' plans often lack the quality service and flexible options standard in 401k Solution full-service plans).
For more information about PSA's 401k Solution as well as the company's other retirement plan offerings - 403b plans, SEPs, IRA's and any other IRS-sanctioned retirement savings plan - visit the 401k Solution web site, www.401k-solution.com, or call (800) 595-4015.
An "online" versus "off-line" 401k plan
(This repeats the information within the "Our Online 401k Products", above.)
Our "online" and "offline" products differ in a few key ways.
Whether you choose one of our online products (LifeCycle 401k or the full-service administration version, The 401k Solution) or our offline product, 401(k) Easy for the PC, we customize your system to the plan and administration design options you choose. Contact us if you have any questions about the differences between the products or want help evaluating which best suits your company's retirement plan needs.
Our "online" and "offline" products differ in a few key ways.
Where the Software Is Housed: In our online plans, the software used to process your retirement plan data and by which you and your employees access information about your company plan and interact with it is housed on secure servers that you access online (via the Internet). This means that you and your employees have access to your customized system anywhere you can connect to the Internet. In contrast, in our offline plans, your plan-specific software is housed on your desktop PC.
What the Software Can Do: In our online plans, your customized system handles both user-accessible plan administration as well as plan participation. That is, not only do authorized administrators (whether you, if using our self-serve product, LifeCycle 401k, or our professional personnel, if using the full-service product, The 401k Solution) have anytime, anywhere access to the system, but so do your employees. They can log into the Plan Participation Gateway via almost any Internet connection to read about your company plan, join it, select and alter personal investment choices, model and apply for 401k loans (if your company chooses to offer such within its plan), monitor account balances, print account statements, and more. In contrast, in our offline plans, plan participation is done the old-fashioned way: via paper. Plan-specific forms and information are housed within the PC-based software and can be printed for employees on an as-needed basis.
Renewal: With both our online and offline products, the right to use the software systems comes with payment of your annual fee
(see our Pricing section for details). For online product users, upgrades to the new year's software occurs transparently; we update everything on our end, and you do not have to do anything. In contrast, for our offline customers, they receive a CD of their upgraded software, which they then load into their PC; this takes only a few moments.
Price: As you might expect, our online products cost a bit more than the offline, simpler product.
Whether you choose one of our online products (LifeCycle 401k or the full-service administration version, The 401k Solution) or our offline product, 401(k) Easy for the PC, we customize your system to the plan and administration design options you choose. Contact us if you have any questions about the differences between the products or want help evaluating which best suits your company's retirement plan needs.
Product 3: 401(k) Easy for the PC
desktop software for handling plan administration + paper-based plan participation
desktop software for handling plan administration + paper-based plan participation
Visit 401k-easy.com for complete information about our popular desktop product. Here are a few highlights:
Download a demo copy of 401(k) Easy for the PC at http://www.401k-easy.com/demo.
While scaleable to plans of every size, our desktop product, 401(k) Easy for the PC, is favored by small and very small businesses that operate out of a single location. It allows them to offer an investment-rich plan at very low cost.
"The Wall Street Journal" said that 401(k) Easy "allows small businesses to manage 401(k) plans as easily as a consumer navigates family finances with programs such as Quicken."
As with our online products, 401(k) Easy for the PC allows users to bypass all third-party middlemen and instead interact directly with the mutual fund and/or brokerage account companies they choose for their plan. Not only does this cut through red tape, it also means that 401k contributions often get deposited more quickly.
As with our online product, 401(k) Easy for the PC allows for most small businesses to run their retirement plan in less than 15 minutes a month.
As with our online product, 401(k) Easy for the PC allows for extensive investment flexibility.
As with our online product, 401(k) Easy for the PC allows for you to take control of your 401k plan. You have access to information, processing and more at your fingertips. No more waiting for a some account representative to get back to you.
As with our online product, 401(k) Easy for the PC allows for versatile plan design. Include or exclude 401k loans, employer contributions and more, and establish parameters regarding whichever you choose to include (contribution and vesting schedules, for instance).
As with our online product, 401(k) Easy for the PC comes with everything you need to provide your company with a beneficial 401k plan.
Download a demo copy of 401(k) Easy for the PC at http://www.401k-easy.com/demo.
401(k) Easy for the PC is an ideal cost-saver for very small companies operating out of a single location
401(k) Easy for the PC is most popular among very small companies that operate out of a single location as well as small companies for whom Internet connectivity is not a big deal. For such, running the company retirement plan from a single computer or closed network of computers is simple and efficient; little to no convenience is lost in not being able to access the plan over the Web. And the cost-savings of using the desktop product can sometimes be the difference between whether or not a company can afford to offer a retirement plan.
LifeCycle 401k vs. The 401k Solution vs. 401(k) Easy for the PC
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| OPTION 1: Self-Service PC-Based 401k Plans Where We Customize Our Guaranteed, Easy-To-Use 401(k) Software That You Run From Your Office PC |
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| 401(k) Easy for the PC run-it-yourself plan administration from your PC using plan-specific software |
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| OPTION 2: Self-Service Online 401k Plans Where We Provide the Dashboard and Customized Plan, Then You Perform the Mouse Clicks |
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| Lifecycle 401k self-service plan-specific administration and participation from any location connected to the Internet |
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| OPTION 3: Full-Service 401k Plans Where We Use Our Customized Tools to Run Your 401k Plan for You |
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| The 401(k) Solution full-service plan administration with the flexibility of self-service plan participation |
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