The SECURE Act, which became effective on January 1, 2021, allows unrelated employers to offer retirement benefits to their employees through newly created arrangements called Pooled Employer Plans (PEPs).

The newly created PEP structure enables unrelated businesses to offer low-cost retirement benefits while retaining the design flexibility that commonly exists in the single employer plan setting, reducing the administrative and investment related expenses, and potentially limiting the fiduciary responsibilities that each participating employer would otherwise retain under a traditional single employer plan structure.

Unlike traditional single employer plans, the participating employers in a PEP have limited responsibilities with respect to the PEP’s general day-to-day administrative functions. Instead, each PEP has a Pooled Plan Provider (PPP), which acts as the PEP’s “plan administrator”, as defined in Section 3(16) of ERISA. Under this structure, the PPP is a named fiduciary that is responsible for the PEPs administrative functions.

Yes! Employers of any size can offer a PEP to their employees. PEPs provide employers of all sizes the ability to get the scale, efficiencies and plan design flexibility that would typically only be available to large employers – without all the headaches.

Access Retirement Solutions (Access) saw a unique opportunity to improve upon the PEP model and developed a proprietary retirement plan solution. Access developed an unconflicted model providing employers of all sizes the ability to get the scale, efficiencies and plan design flexibility that would typically only be available to large employers – without all the headaches.

While PEPs provide a new retirement plan solution for small businesses that did not exist prior to the SECURE ACT, they’re for employers of any size. PEPs provide employers of all sizes the ability to get the scale, efficiencies and plan design flexibility that would typically only be available to large employers – without all the headaches.

Access PEP retirement plans make offering a 401(k) retirement plan easy and they work just the same for medium and large businesses as they do for small businesses. Employers sign up for an Access PEP and we handle the rest. Contact us to learn more.

Access strives to select best-in-class investment alternatives to provide a wide variety of options that are carefully selected based upon both their performance and cost. Participants are able to select from various low-cost index funds, actively managed funds or simply set it and forget it by selecting or defaulting into one of the PEPs’ target date funds, which serve as the qualified default investment alternative.

Access offers clear pricing models and no hidden fees. Fees include a one time setup fee, a quarterly fee based on participating employer’s asset level and participating number of employees and an annual administrative base fee. Reach out to an Access representative to get pricing for our plan.

When the SECURE Act allowed for PEPs to be offered, it also increased available federal tax credits that are aimed at offsetting plan startup costs from $500 up to $5,000 and created an additional $500 tax credit for plans that automatically enroll new hires.

Employers could be eligible for tax credits that may fully offset the cost of participating in an Access PEP retirement plan. Check with an Access representative to find out of your plan is eligible for tax credits.

Yes, a safe harbor plan can offer a PEP.

As an employer you have nearly no administrative work as a part of offering an Access PEP. As a complete retirement plan solution provider, Access removes the headaches of offering a 401(k) retirement plan benefit. Access selects the fiduciary service providers for the PEP – the Pooled Plan Provider (PPP), trustee and Investment Manager – who handle the investment and administrative fiduciary services, as well as the legal and compliance duties and the recordkeeping, custodial and trustee services.

As an employer you have nearly no compliance responsibilities as a part of offering an Access PEP. As a complete retirement plan solution provider, Access removes the headaches of offering a 401(k) retirement plan benefit. Access selects the fiduciary service providers for the PEP – the Pooled Plan Provider (PPP), trustee and Investment Manager – who handle the investment and administrative fiduciary services, as well as the legal and compliance duties and the recordkeeping, custodial and trustee services.

With more states exploring and enacting auto-IRA legislation, stay up-to-date on where your state stands with our state mandated IRA tracker.

Access sends out quarterly invoices via email. The email will contain a copy of your invoice as well as a personalized payment link. You can pay with a bank transfer for no charge, or with a credit or debit card for a 2.9% fee. We also accept Zelle (invoices@accessretirementsolutions.com). If you need a copy of your invoice or have any questions regarding payment, please email invoices@accessretirementsolutions.com.

Yes, you can set up automatic payments via ACH transfer. To begin the setup process, please complete the ACH Authorization Request form. After submitting the request form, you will receive an email from DocuSign with the authorization agreement. All you need to do is enter your banking information, review the agreement and sign to finalize your request. Access will send a confirmation once your ACH has been set up and your first payment has been successfully initiated. If you have any questions, or need to make changes to an existing auto-pay schedule, please email us at invoices@accessretirementsolutions.com or call 888.388.8627.