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15015 Jamestown Boulevard, Suite 100, Baton Rouge, LA 70810. 

Advisors of Horizon are Registered Representatives of Cetera Advisors LLC, a broker/dealer and Registered Investment Adviser.

Mar 1, 2018

All About Retirement Plans with Andy Bush


Summary:
The hosts of The Confident Wealth podcast Bill Bush and Peter Bush open up this episode to the topic of retirement plans with Andy Bush – the head of the retirement plan division of Horizon Financial Group. The three Bush brothers discuss the important retirement plan designations that advisors should equip themselves with. They also talk about the six steps of “The 401k Confidence System” and the eight steps of “The 401(k)onfidence Scorecard” that were both created internally at Horizon Financial Group.


Time Stamped Show Notes:
● 00:25 – Bill Bush and Pete Bush introduce the episode’s topic of retirement planning.
● 01:07 – Their retirement plans, although based in Baton Rouge, spread through Louisiana and beyond the state into places like Texas and Alabama.
● 02:00 – The bulk of the plans are 401k but they also service 457, 403b, and smaller IRA plans.
● 02:29 – There is a push to make sure that the advisor on a plan is a specialist and knows what the fiduciary responsibilities are.
● 05:00 – What makes an advisor a specialist begins with training and earning designations to learn what it means to be a fiduciary, what the processes are, and what the requirements are for documentation.
● 05:42 – Both Bill Bush and Andy Bush are Chartered Retirement Plan Specialists (CRPS). Other designations that are available include: Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) that covers the fiduciary roles and tasks, Professional Plan Consultant (PPC) is sort of a bridge between CRPS and PPC.
● 06:45 – The 401(k)onfidence System, created by Horizon Financial Group, is provider agnostic and can be layered on top of whatever record keeper you want to use. 401K Confidence System as 6 Steps:
● 07:47 – Step 1: “The Clarity Conversation” is the “get to know you” phase where they gather the information, have a conversation with the client, find out what is important to them, and what their vision is.
● 08:04 – Step 2: “The Confident Plan Evaluation” is created for the client to benchmark their retirement plan against industry standards, and gives them analysis and feedback about what is working and not working.
● 09:10 – Step 3: “The Plan Improvement Report” is where areas have been identified as to where they can improve their plan.
● 10:18 – Step 4: “The Guided Transition walks the client through changes that can improve their plan – such as a vendor replacement.
● 10:57 – Step 5: “The Participant Engagement Experience” is an ongoing conversation and offers education opportunities along the way.
● 12:32 – Step 6: “Your Fiduciary Check-Up” is a proactive way of making sure that plan sponsors are taken care of and have peace of mind.
● 14:15 – There has been a myriad of problems that Andy has run into with clients including: plan sponsors that never met their advisors and plans that are thick with
fees that aren’t transparent.
● 17:40 – The 401(k)onfidence Scorecard looks at eight critical areas that a plan sponsor should be concerned about with their 401k plan. Each area has four statements for plan sponsors to grade themselves and see which category they fall
into.
● 25:40 – Closing credits.


3 Key Points:


1. The main retirement plan designations are: Chartered Retirement Plan Specialists (CRPS), Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF), and Professional Plan Consultant(PPC).
2. The 401(k)onfidence System, is a six-step plan that is provider agnostic and can be layered on top of whatever record keeper you choose to use.
3. The 401(k)onfidence Scorecard has at eight areas that a plan sponsor should be concerned about with their 401k plan and each area has four statements for plan sponsors to grade themselves.


Tweetable Quotes:
- “90% of Americans save probably 90% of their money in their retirement plan at work and or in their IRAs.” – Pete Bush.


- “We have about 60 plans and about $340 million in assets covering well 5,000 employees.” – Andy Bush.


- “As you age, you certainly want to have a dialogue and an engagement with somebody who is a professional advisor and knows what they are talking about.” –Andy Bush.


Resources Mentioned:
● Confident Wealth – Website for Confident Wealth
● The Confident Wealth Experience – Horizon Financial Group’s planning system
● The 401(k)onfidence System – Horizon Financial Group’s retirement plan planning system