10.09.2008 - 02:12pm ET

(CSRwire) SPRINGFIELD, MA. – October 9, 2008 - Social(k) (www.SocialK.com), a paperless, fully-bundled retirement platform, may be the answer for those organizations that need to revise their 403(b)(1) plans this year and want their investments to match their organizational mission.

According to a 2007 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulation, organizations qualifying as 501(c)(3) non-profits with a 403(b)(1) retirement plan in place must revise their plans by December 31, 2008. After that time, the IRS will require that 403(b)(1) plans have increased recordkeeping and employer involvement such as is required already by 401(k) plans. In particular, the employer will have to draw up and sign a plan document and annually report the status of the plan each year to the federal government.

"With the fully-bundled Social(k), organizations can continue to offer the popular 403(b) retirement plans, enabling their staff to profit with principal, while the managers hand responsibility to the plan provider," said Rob Thomas, president of Social(k).

With Social(k), organizations may convert their current 403(b) into a fully-bundled ERISA-qualified 403(b)(7) plan. The advantage with a fully-bundled plan is that the plan provider is not only the recordkeeper but also the TPA overseeing plan documents, testing, and filing. Everything is under one roof, making the process the most efficient (and low-cost) possible.

The Social(k) plan offers no-load and load-waived mutual funds. Plus, employees and their advisors can choose from more than 150 screened socially responsible invested (SRI) funds, enabling them to align the mission of the organization with the focus of the funds. (In addition, Social(k) offers almost 2000 conventional funds to enable advisors to make the right mix for each client). The plan is recordkept and administered through ExpertPlan (www.ExpertPlan.com), the premier provider of private-labeled recordkeeping solutions to financial institutions.

Organizations have three other options:

1. Terminate the retirement plan and no longer offer a plan for your employees. This is the least wise choice as retirement plans are one of the most popular employee benefits offered, helping companies attract and retain good employees.
   
   
2. Terminate your current 403(b) plan and adopt a SIMPLE (Savings Incentive Match PLan for Employees) IRA plan. Note that with SIMPLE IRAs, there is a mandatory employer match of 2-3% of payroll.
   
   
3. Leave your 403(b) alone but hire a Third Party Administrator (TPA) to create and maintain the new required plan documents and provide annual IRS Form 5500 (Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan) reports. Note that there is a higher cost for an outside TPA vs. using a fully bundled service. In addition, traditionally, providers offering 403(b)(1) plans offer only conventional funds with sales loads or high expense ratios.

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