Author Topic: Good provider for 401k - Startup?  (Read 2853 times)

brutzel1

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Good provider for 401k - Startup?
« on: February 15, 2019, 02:07:35 PM »
Hey guys,

we are running a small company - currently 8 employees, 4 with benefits. We've been around for 3.5 years and while we're small, my hope is that there is a provider that offers a cheap 401k the company can sign up for that lets its employees invest in Vanguard index funds. Any ideas?

I don't think we're in a phase yet where we can offer contribution matching of any kind, but just being able to invest in a 401k itself with index funds would be priceless.

thanks guys!
Johannes

starbuck19

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Re: Good provider for 401k - Startup?
« Reply #1 on: February 16, 2019, 12:39:55 AM »
Check out Guideline: https://www.guideline.com/. This is the 401k provider we went with at my company (11 FTEs). I did the cost analysis against Vanguard and Guideline is cheaper until you get to ~ 50 FTEs. Costs are one time $500 fee, plus $8 per employee per month, no other fees. They offer  a ton of Vanguard funds. The UI is very user friendly and it integrates with Gusto. The will even do a demo for you so you can get an idea of how the website works.
Please consider making a contribution for your employees, just to make it easier on yourself to keep your 401k plan in compliance (safe harbor requirements), and to keep your employees happy w.r.t. taxes. My company doesn't and I'm pretty upset about it not because of the lack of a contribution for myself, but because I now depend on the other employees to contribute in order to keep the plan in compliance; in essence they pressured me to contribute a lot less to the 401k ($2k instead of $18k) and I ended up paying at least $3k extra in taxes.

MaaS

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Re: Good provider for 401k - Startup?
« Reply #2 on: February 17, 2019, 12:32:26 PM »
Hey guys,

we are running a small company - currently 8 employees, 4 with benefits. We've been around for 3.5 years and while we're small, my hope is that there is a provider that offers a cheap 401k the company can sign up for that lets its employees invest in Vanguard index funds. Any ideas?

I don't think we're in a phase yet where we can offer contribution matching of any kind, but just being able to invest in a 401k itself with index funds would be priceless.

thanks guys!
Johannes

How about... Vanguard? I use them for my company's 401k and have no complaints.

nara

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Re: Good provider for 401k - Startup?
« Reply #3 on: February 18, 2019, 01:55:20 PM »
Vanguard does not offer 401Ks to small companies. We have less than 10 employees and have been using Employee Fidiciary for the last year for our 401K. Their name came up in one of these groups, their fees are low, and they offer Vanguard fund options as well.

feelingroovy

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Re: Good provider for 401k - Startup?
« Reply #4 on: February 23, 2019, 02:35:40 PM »
Have you looked into Simple IRAs as an alternative? I have 4 employees and that is what we use. There are 0 fees to have one directly with Vanguard.

Contribution limits are lower but no worries about safe harbor and no paperwork once you set it up.

AlexMar

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Re: Good provider for 401k - Startup?
« Reply #5 on: February 25, 2019, 08:23:25 AM »
We do the Simple IRA as well through ADP.  Runs through Fidelity but you can submit a DFI form to have the funds automatically sent to Vanguard which is what I do.

BlueHouse

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Re: Good provider for 401k - Startup?
« Reply #6 on: February 25, 2019, 02:31:25 PM »
I use Paychex for my payroll, taxes, and 401k administration.  The 401K is $240/year, but it's only me so that might be why so cheap.

Stretch67

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Re: Good provider for 401k - Startup?
« Reply #7 on: April 15, 2019, 10:14:23 AM »
Hey guys,

we are running a small company - currently 8 employees, 4 with benefits. We've been around for 3.5 years and while we're small, my hope is that there is a provider that offers a cheap 401k the company can sign up for that lets its employees invest in Vanguard index funds. Any ideas?

I don't think we're in a phase yet where we can offer contribution matching of any kind, but just being able to invest in a 401k itself with index funds would be priceless.

thanks guys!
Johannes

Hi, thought I would give this a bump as I'm in the exact same situation. The local financial guy of course is really trying to get us signed up. It's basically 1% of AUM/year for IRAS and .25% of AUM/year for 401k. They put on a good sales pitch. But it seems that they mostly offer American Funds, and when I google it, everyone says that American Funds is the actively managed and expensive way to invest.

Want a way to get myself and our employees set up with Vanguard.

What did you end up going with?

BlueHouse

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Re: Good provider for 401k - Startup?
« Reply #8 on: July 25, 2019, 09:45:57 AM »
I use Paychex as my payroll provider and they also calculate and pay fed and state taxes and also administer my 401k.  They have a few different options for 401k.  I use the one that is $240 per year and allows me to choose 60 funds (out of about 600).  I just chose the vanguard ones and I'm happy with it. 

I think you can just use them for 401k, but if you use them for payroll too, then everything is in one place.

Oh, you may want to also try DominionPayroll.  They also offer 401k services

jinga nation

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Re: Good provider for 401k - Startup?
« Reply #9 on: August 01, 2019, 11:36:40 AM »
i helped my employer (70-80 employees) switch to Guideline. It was super smooth with no hiccups. Mostly Vanguard funds, no additional fund fees. $8/employee/month.