Once you have established a plan, you assume certain responsibilities in operating the plan. If you hired someone to help in setting up your plan, that arrangement also may have included help in operating the plan. If not, another important decision will be whether to manage the plan yourself or to hire a professional or financial institution — such as a bank, mutual fund provider, or insurance company — to take care of some or most aspects of operating the plan.
Elements of operating plans include the following:
- Participation
- Contributions
- Vesting
- Nondiscrimination
- Investing plan monies
- Fiduciary responsibilities
- Disclosing plan information to participants
- Reporting to government agencies
- Distributing plan benefits
Source: U.S. Department of Labor http://www.dol.gov