Participant education · Fiduciary services · Employer value
A 401(k) advisor that pays off for your employees and your company.
…and serves as your plan fiduciary.
Independent and working only for you, Planit reduces your company's fiduciary risk and educates 100% of your eligible employees through Participant Planit, our industry-leading education portal. The result is a benefit employees use well, a process you can stand behind, and real value back for what your company invests in the plan.
Recognized and involved across the retirement plan industry
- ASPPAGNW Chapter President
- PSCACommunications & Education Committee
- NAPACPFA® · Member
- ARAAmerican Retirement Association
- Fi360AIFA® designation
- CFS®Certified Fund Specialist
Participant education
Industry-leading participant education, built around your plan.
A plan only works when employees use it well. Planit works with 100% of your eligible employees as participants, not just the ones who have already signed up. Most plans are judged on investments and fees; we also judge yours on whether employees save enough, invest well and feel confident about their retirement. Education is where a plan's value reaches people. It's the part of this work Keith enjoys most, and he serves on the Plan Sponsor Council of America's national Communications & Education Committee.
Participant Planit
Plan-specific education
Lessons built around your plan: your match, vesting schedule, investment menu and enrollment steps. Employees learn their own benefit, not a generic one.
Participant Planit
Focused 401(k) guidance
Practical direction on the decisions that matter most: how much to save, Roth or pre-tax, how to invest, and what to do when changing jobs.
Participant Planit
Participant education certificates
Employees earn certificates as they complete coursework, a visible record of progress for them and for you.
Participant Planit
Multilingual
Education employees can take in the language they are most comfortable with, so everyone on your team gets the same clear guidance.
Participant education certificates
Progress employees can see, and you can recognize.
When an employee completes a course, they earn a certificate of completion with their name, your company's name and the date.
- Gives employees a sense of accomplishment that keeps them engaged with their plan
- Gives you a natural moment to recognize employees, at a staff meeting or in a newsletter
- Shows the company's investment in employees' financial futures
- Course completions are included in the education results we report to you
Inside Participant Planit
Every employee follows the same clear path
About you
Your retirement choices
Your next moves
Guidance tips built into the step
What we teach: the retirement journey
Every lesson leads to one goal, retirement income
Start
Begin with the right choices
Enrollment decisions set the course for decades of saving.
- Enrolling in your plan
- Choosing a deferral %
- Capturing the full match
- Roth or pre-tax
- Naming beneficiaries
Grow
Small changes now, real income later
A 1% deferral increase today can become meaningful retirement income. We show employees how.
- Raising your deferral over time
- Investing & target-date funds
- Staying the course
- Catch-up contributions
- Rollovers when changing jobs
Retire
Turn savings into income
Helping employees picture, plan for and reach a retirement they can live on.
- Estimating retirement income
- Social Security timing
- Withdrawal options
- Required minimum distributions
- Rollovers at retirement
How we reach your employees
On site or virtual, scheduled around your shifts and locations.
- Enrollment & re-enrollment meetingsClear, practical sessions that get people started on the right foot.
- One-on-one consultationsPrivate time to talk through a person's own situation, in person, by phone or by video.
- Retirement readiness workshopsSessions on saving rates, investing and turning savings into retirement income.
- New-hire onboardingA plan overview built into your onboarding so no one starts behind.
- Participant Planit onlinePlan-specific, multilingual courses and certificates employees can complete anytime.
- Plain-language guidesPlanit flyers employees can keep, like our rollover portability chart.
What we measure and report to you
Education should change behavior. We track the results and review them at your committee meetings.
- Participation
- Planit works with 100% of eligible employees as participants
- Deferral rate
- How many employees are saving, and whether they save enough to reach their goals
- Full-match capture
- Who is leaving employer money on the table
- Diversified investing
- Use of target-date and balanced options
- Loans & hardships
- Early signs of financial stress in your workforce
- Courses & certificates
- Portal engagement and certificates earned
The Planit Focus
The problems we solve, in the order we put them first.
If you sponsor a retirement plan, you are already a fiduciary. Everything Planit does follows these four priorities.
Focus 1 · Minimize risk to the company
What is our exposure, to the company and to us personally?
Are we following a prudent, documented process? We put one in place and keep it current, so you can show your work and your plan drops off your list of worries.
Focus 2 · A benefit to the employer
Is the company getting value back for offering this benefit?
Your match, your fees and your team's time are an investment. We benchmark every cost and measure what the plan returns: a positive benefits culture, people who join, people who stay, and a workforce that is financially ready.
Focus 3 · Education
Do employees know that small changes now create meaningful retirement income?
Raising a deferral by 1%, capturing the full match, investing with a plan. We work with 100% of your eligible employees so those small steps happen early, when they matter most.
Focus 4 · A retirement plan specialist
Does our advisor specialize in retirement plans?
Plans are all we do. You get best practices drawn from more than a thousand plans and 30+ years of experience, applied to your company and your people.
Employer value
Your company should get value back for offering this benefit.
A retirement plan costs money and attention. Planit manages the plan so that investment pays the company back, and we show you the results at every review.
- Positive benefits culture
- A plan employees understand and appreciate shows them the company is invested in their future.
- Recruiting & retention
- A well-run plan helps you attract talent, and employees who value their benefits are more likely to stay.
- Productivity
- Less financial stress means more focus on the job.
- Workforce planning
- Employees who can afford to retire on time make succession predictable.
- Owner & tax advantages
- Plan design that also serves owners and key employees, within the rules.
- Cost control
- Every fee benchmarked, so you pay a fair price for what you receive.
Investment fiduciary levels
Only a 3(38) takes the investment workload and liability off your desk.
Someone has to select, monitor and replace your plan's investments through a documented process. It is ongoing work, and it carries personal liability. A 3(21) adviser shares the liability, but the decisions and the workload stay with you. Only a 3(38) investment manager takes on both.
3(38) Investment Manager
Planit accepts fiduciary responsibility for selecting, monitoring and replacing your plan's investments. Only the 3(38) manager signs investment decisions and carries that workload.
- WHO SIGNS
- Planit, as the 3(38) investment manager
- YOUR ROLE
- Prudently select and monitor Planit as your manager
- BEST FOR
- Sponsors who want the most relief from investment workload and liability
The workload reduction is a big deal: fund research, scoring, replacements and the paper trail all move to Planit. As an Accredited Investment Fiduciary Analyst (AIFA®) and Certified Fund Specialist (CFS®), Keith brings fiduciary process and fund analysis expertise to every level: coach, partner or manager.
Services
Advisory services for retirement plan sponsors
Save time, improve your employees' experience, reduce fiduciary exposure and simplify plan administration.
Participant education
Participant Planit, our multilingual education portal with plan-specific courses, focused guidance and certificates, plus group sessions and one-on-ones.
Employer value review
A regular look at what the plan returns to the company in recruiting, retention and workforce readiness.
Plan governance & compliance
Investment Policy Statement, committee structure, meeting cadence and a documented fiduciary file.
Investment consulting
Fund selection, ongoing monitoring and replacement as your shared 3(21) or delegated 3(38) investment fiduciary. Only a 3(38) shifts the workload and liability to us.
Fee & service benchmarking
An independent read on whether every fee in your plan is reasonable for the services you receive.
Vendor management & negotiation
Recordkeeper and TPA searches, contract reviews and renegotiation on your behalf.
Plan design consulting
Auto-enrollment, match formulas, profit sharing and cash balance options, reviewed against your goals.
HR best practices
Efficient payroll, enrollment and distribution procedures built with your HR team and vendors.
Fiduciary Essentials® training
CEFEX-certified coursework for plan sponsors and investment committee members.
Provider independence
We work for you, not for a provider.
Planit is independent of any recordkeeper, third-party administrator or fund company. You are our client, and our recommendations answer only to your plan and your employees. We work with the providers you have when they serve you well, and help you find better ones when they don't.
Who we serve
Organizations of every kind.
Companies of any size, public or private, for-profit or not-for-profit.
- Small businesses
- Mid-size & large employers
- Public companies
- Private & family-owned companies
- Nonprofits & 403(b) organizations
The Planit standard
What a successful plan looks like
In this industry, the word plan means a detailed method for reaching a goal. We hold every plan we serve to these eight.
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”ATTRIBUTED TO ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY
- Value for the employerA benefit that pays the company back in a positive benefits culture, recruiting, retention and a financially ready workforce.
- Minimal risk to the sponsorA plan run with enough skill and process that it falls off your list of worries.
- Fit with your cultureWe learn your company's goals and needs before recommending anything.
- Strong participant outcomesCareful design and skillful education that motivate employees to build wealth.
- Reasonable costsFees monitored for value, because plan costs are under the microscope.
- Competitive investmentsAn effective menu, built and monitored so employees can grow their nest egg.
- Ease of useEfficient procedures worked out with HR and your vendors.
- Optimal plan designEvery design feature reviewed as a whole against company and employee goals.
How we work
From first review to a plan that runs on schedule
Discovery
We learn your company, your people and what you want the plan to accomplish.
Plan review
A complete look at investments, fees, design, vendors and your fiduciary file.
Recommendations
Clear findings and a written plan of action, with the level of fiduciary support that fits.
Implementation
We coordinate with your recordkeeper, TPA and HR team to put changes in place.
Monitor & educate
Regular investment reviews, committee meetings, benchmarking and employee education.
Fiduciary Essentials® training
Know your duties. Document your process.
Planit teaches the CEFEX-certified course Fiduciary Essentials® for Defined Contribution Plans. It's built for plan sponsors and investment committee members who want to improve their decision-making process while reducing liability.
- Identify the role of plan sponsor fiduciaries and committees, and why managing that responsibility matters.
- Learn the seven fiduciary precepts and the obligations of a plan steward.
- Apply the precepts to your own fiduciary decision-making.
Core duty
Duty of loyalty
Act in good faith. Serve participants' best interest. Avoid conflicts of interest.
Core duty
Duty of care
ERISA requires decisions made as a prudent person knowledgeable in such matters would make them, with competence, prudence and diligence.
How excellence is measured
By the ongoing use of a prudent process, not by any single outcome.
About Planit
Keith Mayfield
PRESIDENT & CHIEF 401(k) OFFICER · PLANIT FINANCIAL, LLC
Keith started in the 401(k) trenches: at a third-party administrator, on a sponsor support desk, as an employee education specialist and as a sponsor relationship manager. From 2000 to 2018 he worked as a wholesaler and consultant, teaching financial advisors fiduciary practice, plan rules, employee education and industry best practices on more than 1,000 plans covering over 10,000 participants.
He founded Planit to bring that experience directly to plan sponsors as a specialized plan fiduciary, accountable to the plan, the sponsor and every participant. He still loves the employee education side of the work most: helping participants take the right next step for their financial future.
A lifelong Washingtonian, Keith plays cribbage, cooks, and spends his free time on the water skiing and boat surfing, or out hiking.
- PresidentASPPA GNW
- MemberPlan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA) national Communications & Education Committee
Resources
Tools for sponsors and participants
For employers
- Fiduciary types: 3(21) vs 3(38) vs none FLYER
- Annual IRS contribution limits
- DOL: Meeting your fiduciary responsibilities
For employees
- Past, present & future financial wellness FLYER
- Rollover portability chart FLYER
- Your Social Security account
Free plan review
See how your plan really measures up. No cost, no obligation.
Send us a few documents, we do the analysis, and Keith walks you through the findings. You keep what we find, whether or not you work with us.
FEESFee benchmarkEvery plan fee compared with plans like yours, using your 408(b)(2) disclosures.FUNDSFund scorecardEach investment measured against prudent selection and monitoring criteria.FIDUCIARYFiduciary file checkupYour IPS, committee minutes and documentation, with any gaps identified.PEOPLEParticipant outcomes snapshotDeferral rates, savings levels and full-match capture.VALUEEmployer value assessmentWhat the plan returns to your company, and where it could return more.
Already have an advisor?
Get a second specialist opinion.
Many plans are served by advisors who handle retirement plans alongside many other kinds of work. A specialist review shows whether your plan is getting specialist-level care, without changing anything. If your current setup is working well, we'll tell you so.
Book a 15-minute callHelpful to have
FORM 5500Most recent annual return/report408(b)(2)Service provider fee disclosuresLINEUPCurrent fund menu with expense ratiosIPSInvestment Policy Statement, if you have onePLAN DOCAdoption agreement or summary plan description
Questions
Questions plan sponsors ask us
Don't see yours? Ask Keith directly.
What does the plan review cost?
Nothing. The review is free and comes with no obligation. You keep the findings either way.
We already have an advisor. Why talk to Planit?
A second specialist opinion is a prudent fiduciary practice in its own right. We'll review your plan and the service it receives, and tell you plainly whether it's working. Nothing changes unless you decide it should.
Would we have to change recordkeepers or our TPA?
Not necessarily. We work with your current providers when they serve you well. When they don't, we run the search, compare proposals and manage the transition.
Does Planit act as a fiduciary to our plan?
Yes. Planit accepts fiduciary responsibility for the services we provide, as a 3(21) investment adviser who shares investment decisions with you, or as a 3(38) investment manager who makes them.
How do we choose between 3(21) and 3(38)?
The key difference: only a 3(38) shifts the investment workload and decision liability to Planit. With a 3(21), we share the liability, but you still make, sign and carry out each decision. It comes down to how much you want to keep. Compare the three levels, and we'll recommend one at your review.
What does participant education include?
Participant Planit, our multilingual education portal with plan-specific lessons, focused 401(k) guidance and education certificates, plus enrollment meetings, workshops and one-on-ones. We report the results to you. See the details.
How is Planit paid?
Our fees are disclosed in writing before you engage us, and we'll walk through them at your review. You can also read our Form ADV on the SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website (CRD #293533).
Is a 401(k) the right plan for us?
Not always. Depending on your goals, profit sharing, a cash balance plan or another design may serve your company and employees better. We'll tell you what fits.
Do you work with 403(b) plans and nonprofits?
Yes. We serve 401(k), 403(b), profit sharing, cash balance and other defined benefit and defined contribution plans.
Your 401(k) point person
Let's put a plan behind your plan.
You'll work directly with Keith Mayfield, from your free plan review through every committee meeting and employee session after it.
“I'll be your point person for everything about your plan. When you call Planit, you reach me.”
Keith MayfieldAIFA® · CPFA® · CFS®
President, Planit Financial, LLC