Retirement Planning Made Easier for Smaller Businesses

Report to Members

By Michele N. Siekerka, NJBIA President and CEO On Feb 24, 2021

A workplace retirement plan benefits you, your employees, and your business. However, only 50% of small businesses offer one because they assume it would be too costly, too complicated and too time-consuming.

Not anymore. NJBIA is proud to unveil a new retirement savings vehicle that allows our business owners to join forces, leveraging the power of numbers, to access one single qualified retirement plan and trust – often at a lower cost than they would pay to administer their own separate plans. 

NJBIA’s Retirement Solution is a Multiple Employer Plan (MEP) – a fiduciary-managed, customizable high quality 401(k) and profit-sharing plan. With this exciting new benefit, participating NJBIA employers gain access to top-shelf mutual funds, at very low expense ratios, that would otherwise be closed to small or medium-size businesses without enough employees to generate the required high investment thresholds.  

Members can save thousands of dollars with the NJBIA Retirement Solution because they will no longer incur the expenses, fees, audits and HR time associated with administering their own plans. And, the plan that employers offer to workers can be used by the owners themselves to save for their own retirement with the knowledge they can usually invest much more through a business retirement plan than an individual IRA. 

Having a workplace retirement plan also provides tax advantages and gives employers a competitive edge in recruiting and retaining the best employees. A profit-sharing component serves as a powerful motivator for employees as well. 

Most importantly, being proactive in offering a retirement plan now, rather than later, buys peace of mind because a new state law is coming that will mandate that all employers of a certain size offer a retirement savings plan to their employees. 

The New Jersey Secure Choice Savings Program Act, signed in 2019, will soon require employers who have been in business at least two years and have 25 or more employees to provide a retirement savings plan. The law affects both for-profit and not-for-profit businesses that must either sponsor a 401(k) plan (or other qualified retirement plan) or participate in the state-run New Jersey Secure Choice retirement plan. 

The law was originally expected to be implemented this month, but the Secure Choice Savings Board can extend the timeline by up to 12 months if necessary, and it appears it will be likely to do so because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Once the program is up and running, however, employers will have nine months to comply, or else be subject to penalties. 

With this new mandate on the horizon, business owners would be wise to start exploring alternatives to the state-sponsored plan. The NJBIA Retirement Solution is worth checking out. It offers potential cost savings, access to more investment choices, enhanced fiduciary support, business tax deductions, and extensive educational support. This includes enrollment meetings, annual or semi-annual portfolio reviews and one-on-one reviews of individual retirement standings with a licensed financial adviser. 

Administered by the Employers Association of New Jersey (EANJ) and powered by Benefits Consulting Group (BCG), the plan is governed by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the same as any employer-sponsored retirement savings plan. Enrolling is quick and hassle-free. Even we at NJBIA are using the plan! To find out more, go to our website at www.njbia.org/401k.

To access more business news, visit NJB News Now.

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