IRS · DOL · ERISA · SSA guidance, tracked for you

Every 401(k) rule your plan answers to, kept in one place.

Retirement plan rules shift most years, and the four agencies that write them rarely publish in the same place twice. We keep a running index of the filings, guides, and correction programs sponsors reach for, and we will benchmark your plan against its peers at no cost.

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Sample score card FY 2025

Example Manufacturing Co. 401(k)

B+

Overall rank against plans of a similar asset size

Participation rate81st pctl

Fees vs. peer plans64th pctl

Red flags found2 of 14

Illustrative layout only. Figures are not drawn from a real plan.

Free plan review

How does your 401(k) actually compare with the field?

Send us the plan's most recent Form 5500 and its recordkeeper statements. We read them the way an auditor reads them, then send back a written benchmark against plans of similar size, industry, and geography. There is no fee and no obligation to engage us afterwards.

Red flags

We run the plan against the characteristics that most often precede a design or administration problem, then tell you which ones it trips and why each one matters.

Peer score card

We rank the plan's design and performance against national, state, industry, and same-asset-size peer groups, so you see where it actually sits rather than how it feels.

Trend, not a snapshot

We chart the key metrics across one, three, and five years. A single filing rarely explains what is happening inside a plan; three of them usually do.

Send us the plan documents

Compliance registry

The guidance we open first

Four bodies set the rules a 401(k) plan lives under: the IRS, the Department of Labor, ERISA itself, and the Social Security Administration. Every link below goes to the source document rather than to somebody else's summary of it.

Rev. Proc. 2015-28 Correcting missed elective deferrals The IRS correction methods for deferrals a plan missed or applied wrongly, including the safe harbors that reduce the make-up contribution a sponsor owes. IRS IRS guidance Deferrals and match once pay passes the annual limit How to handle deferrals and employer match after a participant's compensation crosses the year's 401(a)(17) ceiling, with worked examples. IRS DOL campaign Fiduciary education for employers The Department of Labor walks through what fiduciary duty asks of a plan sponsor week to week, in language you can hand to a board without translating it. DOL IRS fix-it guide 401(k) plan fix-it guide The operational mistakes the IRS meets most often in 401(k) plans. Each entry pairs the mistake with how to find it, how to correct it, and how to stop it recurring. IRS DOL FAQ Department of Labor FAQs The answers the DOL itself gives to the questions sponsors and participants raise most, organized by topic. DOL DOL DFVCP Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program The reduced-penalty route for a sponsor catching up on a late or missing Form 5500. Filing here costs far less than waiting for the DOL to open the conversation. DOL DOL EBSA Employee Benefits Security Administration The DOL agency that interprets and enforces ERISA. Enforcement priorities and compliance assistance land here before they reach anyone else. DOL Form 5500 Form 5500 filing instructions Line-by-line instructions for the annual return every plan sponsor files. We link the filing hub rather than one year of the PDF, so the page always serves the current release. DOL

These links point to federal agency websites. We check them regularly, but the agencies control the pages and occasionally move them. Tell us if one breaks and we will fix it the same week.

Wondering whether your plan has to be audited at all? Start with the 401(k) plan audit requirement.