[topic 1]

We Hold the Patent on Its Highly Regarded Run-It-Yourself 401k Technology

The Wall Street Journal said the following about Pension Systems Corporation' run-it-yourself 401k software:

"(It) allows small businesses to manage 401k plans as easily as a consumer navigates family finances with programs such as Quicken" (“Web Helps Small Firms Start 401(k)s,” 12/27/99, C1).

Pension Systems Corporation's 401k software and customized 401k plan proved so innovative in the 401k forum that it's patented. Features that are proving especially popular with clients include...

-- Point-and-click compliance testing with results in seconds.

-- Safe harbor plan administration functions.

-- Monthly participant activity statements.

-- 401k loans, with automatic balance calculations and automatic payment withdrawals from qualifying contributions.

-- Employer matching, profit sharing and qualified nonelective contribution functions (if any such contributions).

-- The ERISA 404c compliance log, which records fulfillment of every request for 401k information of any kind made through the system by an employee.

back to page topics

[topic 2]

The Patented 401k Software Grew From Years of Full-Service 401k Plan Administration Experience

Pension Systems Corporation' affiliate, Pension Service Corporation (PSC), has been providing full-service 401k and other retirement plans since the mid 1980's.

-- PSC specializes in 401k plans for small and mid-sized businesses.

-- PSC was providing small businesses with affordable plans rich in investment options and plan flexibility long before other 401k providers showed any interest in the small plan market.

PSC found that by diverging from the "big plan" administrative setup used by so much of the 401k industry it could streamline administration for small and medium-sized plans, cutting overhead, then pass cost savings on to clients. PSC targeted practices that were particularly inefficient for smaller plans in creating its now-patented approach. For instance...

-- In traditional 401k plan administration, assets are pooled within investments and the administrator must track what portion of that pool belongs to each plan participant. PSC found this undesirable from the standpoint of both the participant as well as the administrator. So PSC got mutual fund companies to agree to set up individual asset accounts for each plan participant, negating the need for PSC's administrators to do any per-asset-per-participant accounting. Instead, the mutual fund company prepares and distributes each participant's monthly per-asset accounting while PSC prepars and distributes each participant's OVERALL activity statement -- a summary of the participant's contributions by month and year, plus any employer contributions, loan withdrawals, loan payments, trust transfers, etc.

-- PSC created for IRS approval a prototype 401k plan that allows for a range of popular choices regarding participant eligibility, employer contributions, 401k loans, and more. The pre-approved flexibility yielded a 401k easily adapted to each client's needs -- now and down the line. The flexibility makes it easy to keep the plans popular with employees year after year.

-- PSC plans see participant rates that are nearly twice the national average.

-- PSC built and refined a 401k administration software system to streamline all areas of plan administration.

-- The highly efficient software system let PSC provide valuable services such as monthly participant account statements as well as monthly compliance testing at no extra charge to its clients. Both the frequency of the services (other plans offered them quarterly or semiannually, at best) and that they are offered at no extra charge was unheard of at the time. Frequent compliance testing is important to smaller plans in particular because, with their limited number of participants, it only takes slightly out of balance contributions by a few highly compensated employees to overly offset those by non-highly compensated employees.

By the mid 1990s PSC felt it had so refined this system that its clients could use a layman's version of the software to run their 401k plans themselves to save even more money. Run-it-yourself plan administration would be particularly simple if each client received software customized to the client's exact plan. Particularly for plans with 100 or fewer participants, basic data input and money transferring would be simple, because the software does all the bookkeeping work. Thus, the creation of Pension Systems Corporation, to build a run-it-yourself 401k system from the PSC full-service system with the goal of creating a highly affordable yet quality, flexible run-it-yourself 401k system.

-- Pension Systems Corporation chose to have 401k professionals work with clients in setting up each plan and deciding on that plan's customization options, then to have software professionals customize each client's software to its exact plan to keep the client's monthly administration tasks down to a minimum.

-- Pension Systems Corporation created customizeable 401k software that costs small business clients less than $1,000 year (less than $500 a year for very small businesses) while requiring from the client less than 15 minutes a month, on average, of simple data entry-type input.

back to page topics

[topic 3]

We Have Taken the 401k to a Higher Level

When 401k plans first came on the scene in the late 1970's, providers focused on big, big plans for big, big companies. Scores of employees equated to scores of investment dollars equated to scores of revenue for the 401k providers and investment companies. Everything from fee schedules to service regimes was set up to capture and service large 401k plans.

But providers soon exhausted the big plan market (at least in terms of establishing new plans). By the late '80s and early '90s some 401k providers developed pared-down 401k plans with which to approach less colossal companies. They called the plans "bundled" or "turnkey" plans; using them was designed to be as simple as turning a key.

-- Bundled/turnkey plans usually come as a preset package of administration plus investments; "prefabricated" is an alternate adjective that's often used.

-- Turnkey plans are highly simplified, pared-down versions of the full-fledge 401k plans offered to high-paying companies.

-- Turnkey plans offer a reduced price in exchange for reduced service, far fewer investment choices, and inflexible plan "options."

-- Many small and mid-sized companies have adopted turnkey plans, frustrated by the lack of flexibility and truncated service but glad, nonetheless, to have some kind of 401k plan for their employees given that, nationwide, employees rank access to a 401k second only to health insurance in desired employee benefits.

But Pension Service Corporation (PSC) didn't think turnkey plans were the answer, particularly not in their current manifestation: Their reduced price didn't equate to such severely truncated options and services.

-- Small business employees need quality retirement saving opportunities as much as does anyone.

-- PSC saw the answer not in butchering off prime 401k attributes to yield a 401k that could be run through a big plan processing system at a fraction of the cost but, rather, in building a 401k and 401k administration system SPECIFICALLY for small and mid-sized 401k plans.

Pension Service Corporation created a semi-bundled plan that merged the simplicity and lower cost of turnkey plans with the flexibility and scope of many Fortune 500-type plans.

-- PSC developed an innovative approach that allowed its plans to include investments from multiple mutual fund companies -- and at no additional charge. Not only were clients NOT limited to some preset investment bundle, they had an almost unlimited array of mutual fund families from which to select their plans' investments.

-- PSC used IRS-approved prototype documents with built-in customization flexibility that includes today's most popular 401k options.

-- PSC created an administrative system that complimented rather than replicated the administrative work being performed by the third-party administrator, saving everyone time -- and money. PSC then passed these savings on to its clients.

-- PSC was one of the first (and still remains one of the few) 401k providers to offer MONTHLY employee statements, and MONTHLY compliance testing -- all at no additional charge.

-- Pension Systems Corporation, built upon PSC's innovations and now delivers extremely affordable, flexible 401k plans that allow for largely self-service administration via plan-specific desktop software or Internet portal (see next).

back to page topics

[topic 4]

We Specialize in Affordable, Flexible 401ks for Small and Medium-Sized Companies

While most vendors in the 401k industry were scrambling for the big company 401ks, Pension Systems Corporation' affiliate Pension Service Corporation (PSC) was concentrating on creating plans suited to small and medium-sized companies. PSC made sure its plans contained the diverse features and offerings every worker, manager, and small business owner deserves yet at prices the employers could afford.

-- Since the mid-1980's PSC has catered to small and medium-sized companies, providing them with quality full-service 401k plans.

-- Pension Systems Corporation, was founded as the small plan self-service 401k specialist. It offers desktop as well as online self-service 401k systems (see the site's Quick Info page for more) built from PSC's years of 401k experience.

-- Over the years, many of PSC and Pension Systems Corporation clients' businesses have grown substantially. Because PSC and Pension Systems Corporation 401k plans allow for wide investment selection and a range of plan options that can be amended at any time, the plans have been able to grow and adapt to clients' burgeoning work-forces.

Both PSC and Pension Systems Corporation stress 401k plan flexibility. An ill-suited product, after all, is of little value no matter how "affordable."

-- Flexible means investment choice -- real investment choice, like an entire lineup of self-directed discount brokerage account investments, not some mini-mix of proprietary investments.

-- Flexible means giving employers say over their plan's participation requirements.

-- Flexible means allowing for, but not mandating, employer contributions.

-- Flexible means letting companies select the rate at which they'll make matching, profit-sharing, and or qualified non-elective contributions, if at all.

-- Flexible means letting companies choose the vesting schedule(s) they want for any employer matching and/or profit-sharing contributions they make.

-- Flexible means letting employers choose how often they want to open up their plan to new participants (annually, quarterly, monthly...)

-- Flexible means creating plans employers are proud to offer to employees, plans with the inherent flexibility to grow and adapt to any changes in needs over the years.

back to page topics

[topic 5]

We Know That Employees Appreciate Investment Choice

Even if plan participants only rarely change or add to their 401k investment mix during their life of participating in the company plan, employees like to know they HAVE choices.

-- Receiving a 401k enrollment package that offers only a few investment choices rarely goes over well. Investors feel tentative, penned-in -- uncertain that this 401k, however convenient, will really be the best long-run savings vehicle for them.

-- Receiving a 401k enrollment package that offers a broad spectrum of investments gives employees the confidence that, however their savings goals and temperament may change in the years between now and retirement, this 401k can meet their needs -- whatever those needs may be.

-- No spectrum of investments is broader than that offered by Web 401k.

-- Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and more are all available, whether through self-directed brokerage accounts or through the no-load mutual fund families themselves.

back to page topics

[topic 6]

We Know Employer Like Saving Money But Need Quality and Asset Security

The driving force behind Pension Systems Corporation' self-service 401k plans is making the plans affordable to small and mid-sized companies while appealing to potential plan participants.

-- Quality isn't compromised in pursuit of a low price.

-- The 401k plans are employer-trusted so clients save themselves the annual trustee fees they'd have to pay with many other 401k plans.

-- Providing clients with quality service, quality tools, tremendous investment choice, and plan flexibility are Pension Systems Corporation' driving forces.

back to page topics

[topic 7]

We Know Employers Like Our Money-Back Guarantee

As you may have surmised, we really believe in 401k plans and strive to create the best 401k plans possible. We've spent years designing, developing, refining, and testing our self-service 401k systems, and we're confident that we've come up with a product that not only meets a wide variety of 401k needs but that's also easy to use.

To help potential 401k clients gain the same confidence in our innovative approach to 401k affordability, we back Web 401k with a money-back guarantee:

-- If, for any reason, you're dissatisfied with Web 401k and contact us within 60 days of receiving your customized system passcodes, we'll refund the annual fee you paid for Web 401k (the annual fee is the fee that varies with plan size; click here to view a pricing chart, or visit our Pricing and Price Comparisons section of this website).

-- We cannot, however, refund the first-year-only one-time 401k plan and Gateway customization fee.

Because the customization fee is nonrefundable, we highly recommend people try our demo Web 401k before ordering a customized system:

-- Visit our 401k Demo page to access a Web 401k system customized to service some fictitous company plans. Nearly all features and capabilities are active in one or more of the plans.

The above pretty much covers our Web 401k money-back guarantee, but feel free to visit our official Web 401k Money-Back Guarantee page.

back to page topics

[topic 8]

Our Roots Stretch Back to the 401k's Early Years

Pension Systems Corporation founder, James Gilbert, has been a professional 401k investment advisor for more than 20 years. His career began shortly after the time when the 401k plan first was introduced.

-- In his early years, Jim became frustrated by the unwillingness of traditional 401k providers to create 401k plans that fit the needs and budgets of small and medium-sized companies.

-- The 401k providers were applying fee schedules and service regimes (not to mention high participation minimums) to all 401k clients despite that the parameters were relevant only to large companies.

-- The few available "lower-cost" 401k plans were turnkey plans, which were off-the-rack 401k plans with severely limited investment availability and inflexible plan "options" (such as no loans, preset participation eligibility parameters, and no employer contributions -- or worse yet, mandatory employer contributions at a preset rate).

-- In 1986 Jim and some like-minded colleagues formed Pension Service Corporation (PSC) with the goal of creating affordable, flexible 401k plans for small and medium-sized companies.

-- PSC created The 401k Solution, an IRS-approved prototype 401k with multiple, pre-approved option choices to give clients plan flexibility while keeping administrative costs down.

-- PSC created an administrative system that complimented rather than replicated the administrative work being performed by the investment custodian(s), saving everyone time, not to mention money.

-- For the first time, small and medium-sized companies had access to flexible, quality 401k plans they could afford.

PSC continues to provide full-service 401k plans as well as 403(b) plans (for nonprofit organizations), SEPs (for self-employed persons) and other government-sanctioned retirement savings plans. Pension Systems Corporation handles all the run-it-yourself arrangements. Visit this site's Full Service 401k Plans page if you'd like more information about PSC and its offerings.

back to page topics