Chapter 1

Getting Started: to the Plan Administrator

Congratulations! Your company has decided to offer its employees a 401(k) plan. With their relatively high annual contribution limits, 401(k)s have in the past 20 years become the most popular of all the IRS-sanctioned tax­deferred savings plans. This fact, along with their borrowing capabilities and ease of participation, is why they’re second only to health insurance in employee benefit rankings.

Not only has your company chosen to sponsor a 401(k) plan for its employees, but it’s chosen a 401(k) Easy^™ 401(k) Plan. That means it can offer exactly the plan it wants.

401(k) Easy^™ comes with everything needed to run the 401(k) plan. It is an integrated package that includes the following products:

·    An IRS-approved prototype 401(k) plan, customized to your company’s needs.

·    The investments of your choice.

·    Technical support.

·    The 401(k) Easy^™ plan administration system software.

·    All the necessary plan enrollment, participation, and employee education forms.

·        Optional (there is a charge) payroll interface software.

·        An educational slide presentation (in convenient video format) to help explain 401(k) plans and their savings potential to your employees.

·    This Quick Guide, which describes how you use 401(k) Easy.^™

·    A 401k Help^™ CD ROM that provides additional information and details about operation of your 401(k) Easy^™ plan.  

·    Free access to our 401k FedForms website, which shows you which IRS forms are applicable to your company plan and then leads you through completing those forms with information supplied by your 401(k) software system. Visit www.401kfedforms.com for more.

That brings us to you. You’re the person your company has entrusted with running the company plan. Even if you’re unfamiliar with what a 401(k) is and how one works, you should be able to handle this job well: you’ve got 401(k) Easy^™ to help you! We’ve designed the software and its companion materials to streamline your tasks and make your job simple and straightforward, and we’ll be available to help you until your plan is successfully launched and operating!

What’s in Your Initial 401(k) Easy^™ Package

Your initial 401(k) Easy^™ package consists of the following:

·    A CD-ROM containing the software necessary for accomplishing the tasks you will need to do to administrate the plan. Also incorporated into the software is the complete series of reports, forms, and documents that you will need to explain the plan to your employees and gather the necessary information from them, keep accurate and detailed records, and communicate properly with the investment account company.

·    A license diskette which does the actual conforming of the CD-ROM to your company plan (including the specifics of your plan as outlined in the Summary Plan Description).

·    A slide presentation packaged in convenient video format to help you explain and sell the plan to your employees. You can show this presentation at group enrollment meetings or to individuals thinking about joining the plan.

·    This Quick Guide and the supplemental 401k Help^™ CD-ROM.

Tip: Your 401(k) software will automatically prepare a generic mutual fund account application each time an employee first allocates money to an investment. Some mutual fund companies, however, require that you complete their own account application. It’s a good idea to check with your plan’s investment company about its policy so you can request blank account applications to have on hand, if needed, before you start signing up participants.

Installing Your Software

1. Insert the CD-ROM into the drive.

2. If you have the 401(k) Easy^™ demonstration system on your computer, delete it. Then install the CD-ROM contents.

3. Click “My Computer” icon, typically found in the upper left-hand corner of the desktop.

4. Double-click the CD-ROM icon.

5. Double-click the “setup.EXE” icon.

6. Installation will begin. During installation you will be asked if you wish to have Acrobat Reader installed. If Acrobat is not presently installed on your PC, click Yes.

7. The 401(k) Easy icon will be found on your desktop screen; simply click Start and move the mouse pointer up to, and double-click on, 401(k) Easy to run the program.

You then have three choices:

1. Commence with the on-line tour using the demonstration data,

2. Work with the demonstration data on your own without the tour, or

3. Insert the license diskette and replace the demonstration data with the actual data for your company.

Tip: It is better to become thoroughly comfortable with the software using the demonstration data before replacing the demonstration data with the actual data for your company.

Important: We strongly recommend that you do not change the default installation directory that 401(k) Easy^™ will install into. It currently installs into the directory “c:\Program Files\401(k) Easy.” All future upgrades will also install into this location -- therefore, you should not change the location.

Transferring License Diskette Information into Your 401(k) Easy^™ System

When you feel comfortably familiar with the 401(k) Easy^™ system, you can conform it to your specific plan by clicking on License 401(k) Easy in the initial “Trial Software” window. An “Update Software License” window will appear. After you have inserted the license diskette, click on Update, and your system will be customized to your plan. The license agreement will again appear; if you agree to the terms and conditions (which should be a formality), click on the “agreement” button and the 401(k) Easy^™ main menu will open up.