Many small-business owners have had high anxiety over 401(k) plans since 2017 when Oregon became the first state to mandate offering retirement accounts to employees. Small-business owners are worried they may be in violation of state laws about mandated retirement accounts, and that’s why it’s good — but not easy — to keep abreast of changes and how they affect you.

Saving for retirement is a race, and you don’t want to fall behind into that group of slackers at the back of the pack. If you think it’s all about complicated investment strategies and other nebulous concepts out of your control that you don’t fully understand, it’s not. I mean, some of it is — but a lot of it isn’t. We’re here to tell you that there are things you can do to feather your retirement nest in a fluffier way. 

We think it’s safe to say that the average working person in the U.S. doesn’t know a great deal about investing. Not only that, but the topic can even provoke anxiety, most often because the cost of a mistake in this sphere can be high. If your company just began offering a 401(k) plan, or you are thinking about opening an IRA through your company or on your own, we have a few suggestions for some things you should do to make investing easier — and to get the most out of your investments.

You have a lot to consider when you’re thinking about starting a 401(k) at your small business. It’s a big step to take, and you want to make sure you’re ready. We have (predictably), put together a short list of things we think you should consider before sponsoring a 401(k) plan at your company, but we have also put together a list of things we think you should not consider. 

If you are just starting a 401(k) at your company, you may be wondering about vesting. How should you decide what type of vesting schedule to establish? Does it really matter? Although some people might not think so, we think it matters, and the schedule you settle on can affect many aspects of your business. In this post, we explain how your choices matter to your business today, and in the future.

At first glance, having to stay in compliance with more laws may seem like a bad thing. But if you look at it slightly differently, you may realize that you can benefit from your state’s retirement plan mandate.