Have you been wondering lately if you are setting aside enough money for your retirement? If so, you aren’t alone. There are a lot of people who are wondering, "What do I need to know about the average deferral percentage test?" Here at Fiduciary Advisors LTD, we help people find the answers that they need in terms of getting their retirement finances in order.
How Does a Firm Pass the Actual Deferral Percentage Test?
There is a specific test set up to ensure that all employers are working to put aside a fair and equal percentage of funds for each and every employee that they manage. This is to say that they cannot objectively favor one set of employees over another, and a great way to test if this is happening is to subject the employer to the actual deferral percentage test and see how they ultimately do. What you will see is that there is a certain percentage that employers ought to set aside for various employees to make sure they aren’t putting aside too much for any particular class of employee.
All people need to be treated equally in this respect, and a great way to ensure that this happens is to put the firm through the actual deferral percentage test.
Highly Compensated Employees May Not be Unfairly Given Extra 401(k) Benefits
It is critically important that the most highly compensated employees in the company are not given unfair access to extra 401(k) benefits that others don’t have access to. It is possible that some highly compensated employees may have gotten used to the idea that they will receive extra benefits and even that they deserve to do so simply based on their position within the company. The problem with this mindset is the fact that no one deserves to be in a position where they receive an excessive amount of extra funds above and beyond what other employees within the company receive.
The test is in place to try to protect everyone from unfair compensation schemes where only those at the very top of the pyramid are able to receive the kind of benefits that everyone wants to receive. Fortunately, the actual deferral percentage test helps to equalize the playing field, at least to some extent.
401(k) Plans Are a Great Benefit for All Employees
The reason why 401(k) plans are reviewed so carefully is the fact that they are a wonderful benefit for employees of all kinds. It is necessary for heavy oversight to be placed on these plans in order to be sure that they are not being awarded to certain groups of people above and beyond what others are able to receive.
When one is looking at working for a new employer, they are highly encouraged to make sure that employer is going to treat them fairly as far as 401(k) and all other benefits are concerned. There is no way that you can know that this is the case unless tests are implemented to protect the equity that all can receive from these programs.