[topic 1]

Introduction

Entrance into your customized 401k Easy Online plan management and participation centers occurs through…

-- The Plan Sponsor Gateway (see below) for Internet-based self-service 401k administration by your authorized personnel.

-- The Plan Participant Gateway (click here to jump to its descriptive page) for Internet based self-service 401k participation and information for your company employees.

The exact features and capabilities accessible through each gateway depend on the customization options you as Plan Sponsor choose for your company plan and those that the eligible employee chooses for his or her individual 401k account.

This page explains the features you can have within your customized 401k Easy Online Plan Sponsor Gateway.

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[topic 2]

The Plan Sponsor Gateway

The Plan Sponsor Gateway is the plan sponsor's path to customized self-service plan management, including convenient communication with company employees.

-- Access is user-name and password protected. Only those individuals at your company whom you authorize can enter your Plan Sponsor Gateway.

-- Functions are separated into two streams: plan configuration functions (see below) control overall plan information and operation parameters, while day-to-day plan administration functions (see below) power and monitor day-to-day administrative activity.

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[topic 3]

Plan Configuration Functions

As a plan sponsor, you use 401k Easy Online to further set up your customized 401k plan's operation.

Plan configuration functions include:

-- Configure Client
Allows authorized user(s) to view and edit the company name, address, tax ID number(s), etc. to be associated with the selected plan — you can run more than one type of retirement plan via 401k Easy Online; contact us for details — as well as to establish the Log In names and Passwords authorizing entry to the plan's day-to-day administration functions.

-- Configure Bulletins
Enables authorized user(s) to create Bulletins that will be visible by each employee as they log into the system.

-- Configure Divisions
Enables authorized user(s) to create and modify Divisions to attach to employee data. Common Division categories include branch office locations and company departments (accounting, marketing, etc.).

-- Configure Employees
Enables authorized user(s) to add, delete, or modify data relating to company employees. Data can be displayed in terms of any of a variety of data fields, including established Divisions.

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[topic 4]

Day-to-Day Plan Administration Functions

As a plan sponsor, you'll use 401k Easy Online to run your customized 401k plan.

Day-to-day plan administration functions include:

-- Plans
Lets you view and edit (as appropriate) a list of your company's existing plan(s) (you can use 401k Easy Online to run more than one retirement plan) and to model a new plan, if desired, for approval submission.

-- Transaction Log
Displays a list of transactions for the currently selected plan as well as the status of each transaction (pending, held, settled, etc.).

-- Participants
Leads into the main participant activity functions for the selected plan. The initial panel displays a list of plan participants and links to the Plan Participant Gateway for access to direct management of employees' accounts, including loan, transfer, and distribution activity.

-- Investments
Displays the investments currently offered within the selected plan. 401k Easy Online allows for self-directed brokerage accounts, no-load and/or load mutual funds, annuities, and more -- in fact, if the IRS says it's OK for 401k investment, it's likely compatible with 401k Easy Online. Visit our Investments page for details.

-- Process Contributions
Allows the people your company authorizes to process regular as well as "special" 401k contributions, such as transfers from a previous employer's 401k plan. Contribution payroll information can be uploaded from a text file directly into the processing grid. The system will perform automatic validation checking and report any errors or rule violations encountered in the data.

The authorized user(s) can do all plan processing at once or save data and continue working with it later.

Once data is submitted for processing, it is held by the system until verification of funds is received through the asset custodian.

-- Participant Loans, Transfers, and Distributions
Accessed through the Plan Participant Gateway, the Loans, Transfers and Distributions panel displays a list of pending loan, distribution, and transfer requests submitted by plan participants. Authorized plan administration user(s) can approve or deny the requests, and can also model new loans, distributions, and transfers for plan participants.

In addition, authorized plan administration user(s) can key in loan payoffs, partial payoffs, and re-amortizations. In the case of payoffs or partial payoffs, transactions remain in “Pending” status until verification of funds is received from the asset custodian.

-- Activity
Accessed through the Plan Participant Gateway, the Activity panel displays a detailed list of buy/sell activity for all participants of the selected plan. Data can be filtered by date range, participant, investment name, and source.

If you'd like to visit a sample customized Plan Sponsor Gateway, click here.

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[topic 5]

Forms and Reports

401k Easy Online's Forms and Reports functions include:

-- Viewing and printing forms relating to activity in the plan. Forms include, among many others, enrollment, loan request, and request for investment statements being sent to more than one address.

-- Viewing, printing, and generating any of a variety of administration reports, including contribution statements for participants, allocation logs, and ERISA 404c compliance logs (which list, among other things, fulfillment of information requests to eligible employees).

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