Newsletter // May 2025

A Message from Holly Danziger, President of Karel-Gordon & Associates

At Karel-Gordon & Associates, we’re committed to keeping you informed with timely updates and insights that matter to you. We’re excited to share this edition of our newsletter in a new and improved format—designed to make important information even easier to access and navigate. Inside, you’ll find updates on regulatory changes, best practices, and a couple ideas that you may find useful.

As we head into the summer months, we hope you find time to recharge and enjoy the season. We look forward to connecting with you in the months ahead and, as always, are here to support you with any questions or needs related to retirement plans.

Market Update

Over the past few months, the team at Karel-Gordon & Associates has been focused on maintaining plan compliance and gathering 2024 census files in support of compliance testing and data verification. We’ve completed robust testing protocols to ensure you’re maximizing your retirement objectives while maintaining a plan that meets constantly changing regulations.

If you have any questions about our compliance calendar, how we’re working to ensure your plan continues to meet your retirement objectives, or if you’re considering additional options for your retirement, please reach out to your plan administrator.

We keep our fingers on the pulse of the latest news in the industry. Read some of our team’s favorite articles below and reply to this email to learn more about how we can support you and your retirement objectives.

Is SECURE 3.0 on the Horizon?

Observant policy watchers and lobbyists see traction for a so-called SECURE 3.0. They shared what they see as possible in policymaking for retirement, and where they anticipate challenges.

Your Employer Can Auto-Enroll You in Their 401(k) Plan. Here's Why.

These changes are part of the SECURE 2.0 Act (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement), which aims to encourage more US workers to save for retirement.

Solutions in Action

Leveraging our expertise in support of your goals.

A dental office 401(k) plan had long served the retirement needs of its dentist and staff, but due to plan limits and other investment priorities the owners retirement goals felt like a stretch.

• Challenge: A dentist, leveraging a custom 401(k) solution, had been adding roughly $70,000 a year to his retirement savings. With a goal to retire in five years, and a current balance of approximately $500,000, something had to change if he was going to accumulate enough savings to meet his retirement targets. Historically, the majority of his earnings from the practice had been spent on repaying school loans, purchasing the practice, upgrading equipment, and sending his kids to college. He’d like to sell the practice when he retires, but he also realized that given his current lifestyle, the value of the practice at sale, and his current retirement savings, the math wasn’t adding up.
• Solution: After analysis and understanding that cash flows that had historically been allocated to college, student loans, and equipment upgrades were now available for investment, we added a Cash Balance Plan on top of his current 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan to increase his annual retirement savings.
• Results: With the addition of the custom Cash Balance Plan on top of the 401(k) profit sharing plan, our client increased his annual retirement savings by over 340%, from about $70,000 a year to over $308,100 a year, which, with a five-year target window until retirement, means he now has a strategy to retire comfortably at the age he had always targeted.

Implementing and managing an efficient, compliant payroll program for a fire department requires more than a one-size-fits-all approach.

• Challenge: Most payroll providers fail to understand the unique complexities of fire service payroll, from specialized pay codes and union rules to 24-hour shifts and strict regulatory requirements. An Illinois-based fire department was no different and was struggling to find a solution that could meet their admittedly complex needs.
• Solution: Strongpay delivers a custom-built payroll solution specifically for public safety and public works organizations. The team is well-versed in the complexity of public works, and specifically fire service pay structures, timekeeping integrations, and compliance nuances. We offer a tailored onboarding experience, with seamless integration of their scheduling platform and a configuration aligned to the district’s operational and regulatory needs.
• Results: Through our partner, Strongpay, the fire department successfully implemented their custom payroll solution and have been proud clients and supporters of Strongpay for many years.
• Bonus: As a result of the success with an initial batch of fire departments, Strongpay now services more than 50 fire protection districts across the country having proven to be one of the only payroll solutions that is customizable, and solutions focused enough, to meet their demands. This success has expanded into other Public Works programs such as park districts as Strongpay continues to differentiate its value to the most complex client demands.

Interested in learning about more ways we can help support your retirement plan, sponsor responsibilities, and participants?