Photo by Bigmick

When we make a purchase each of us want to know up front what it costs and want to be able to compare those costs to others selling the same service.  Due to the complex nature of understanding retirement investing most employees do not ask the question: what is it costing me?  While the employee does not usually invest directly they should be keeping an eye on what it costs for others to invest for them.  So I ask for a little help from folks with a straight forward approach.  John Wasiejko from The Online 401(k), a provider of 401(k)s for small businesses has agreed to provide todays post to support the efforts of nonprofits.

“With the new changes in IRS legislation, many non-profits are choosing to establish a 401(k) plan over a 403(b). Are you thinking about putting a 401(k) into place, but concerned with cost?

Hidden fees can compound costs and significantly erode you and your employees’ retirement savings. Because providers are not required to disclose all types of fees, you can incur expenses unknowingly.

Here are the basic fee structures you can expect:

Asset-based fees

The majority of 401(k) providers employ this fee structure, which is based on the amount of dollars in the plan and generally calculated as percentages. When taken from the plan, these fees can eat into retirement savings – saving more money means paying higher fees, making it difficult to control expenses.

As your account grows, so do the fees!

Example:

2008
Your 401(k) balance: $100,000
Fee: $1,000

2010
Your 401(k) balance: $150,000
Fee: $1,500

Flat fee structure

A flat-fee structure is exactly that. You pay a simple flat fee, based on the number of employees you have and the services you want. It’s that easy and allows you to control your expenses.

For more information on 401(k) plans and the dangers of hidden fees, check out this expose from Bloomberg by clicking here.”

For more information or a free consultation on your 401(k) plan, contact John Wasiejko at jwasiejko@theonline401k.com or call him at 415.477.8800 ext 828.

A Man Said to the Universe

A man said to the universe:

“Sir, I exist!”

“However,” replied the universe,

“The fact has not created in me

A sense of obligation.”

Stephen Crane (1871-1900)

A nonprofit or non governmental organization is only as strong as its leadership. A nonprofit organization’s quality is only as good as its employees. When recruiting from the for-profit sector remember its not the compensation that should be the first draw to your organization but the organization’s mission and vision. The attitudes and expectations set by the leadership ultimately set the tone of accountability of any organization, including government. The type of incorporation does not create leaders. Recently the election process would seem to have recognized everyone. True leaders will continue to recognize those they serve even after they get the job.

 My friend and I can be mad at each other but still be friends

I do not have to like everything my friend does and still be their friend.

I can be mad and still love my brother

I can be mad and still love my parents

I can do something wrong and my parents still love me.

 From Papa:

“Learning to balance feelings is an never ending conflict that children and adults both struggle with.  Nonprofits should as part of their employee support initiatives provide diversity  and building trust trainings. ”

During the academic year there are many college students of various qualification whom will work pro bono for nonprofits.  For the summer interns will be looking for a paid internship.  The use of a year round internship program within your nonprofit organization is a great opportunity to find candidates and test them before placing them into permanent positions.  The cost to your nonprofit is low for this type of employee.  It is just $10-$13 an hour and no benefits.

Nonprofits or any organization looking for individuals whom have lots of energy, are willing to learn and willing to receive feedback should use interns.

If your nonprofit organization has staff who know how to multi task and train people, take advantage of the intern workforce.

This week in observing Earth Day my six year old and I had fun in the woods.  His conversation went something like this;

“The world is perfect and correct when I am walking in the woods. Then, next winter we cut down trees and in the spring we use them to cook our food. Then we use the leaves to make the fire with. The planet is real. It is important for animals to live on the earth; us too.

Are we an animal??

We need to be nice to nature, do not kick nature and kill it. If we are nice to nature, it will be nice to us.  We take care of nature like pets.”

Today we planted 26 trees that were grown by us and involved no use of vehicle transportation  to an area effected by construction and used fallen trees to cook our dinner and conserve our use of foreign fuels.  Any organization with its staff or community can start trees in a small space to be used elsewhere locally.

Employees are feeling depressed, anxious, stressed, overwhelmed during this time of economic uncertainty. This in turn causes the employee to get sicker. Work with your health care provider to provide your employees with a voluntary health risk assessment. Health care workers most likely nurses staffing a 24/7 confidential help line can become the resource the employee needs with out any stigma. The focus is on prevention to lower the impact of these feelings on the social and economic effect due to absences and impairment. While there is an increase cost to providing the service, the fears of today make the investment worth it.

Supporting mental health needs in a neutral way benefits most employees and the employer.

Some people don’t get to work with their parents but Chris does. Parents love to be with their children. Even we get to spend time with the people we love. I learn to express myself through writing and drawing a cartoon. When you do that it just might inspire people. And soon it will start to pay off.

Be open to having us kids at work.

Is your employee is stressed out around March of each year? It just might be the fact that they are trying to fill out the federal financial aid form. There are three basic problems to the form; it is required to be submitted before most people submit their tax returns and it takes 10 plus hours to fill out and it does not make sense at times. The Department of Education estimated it takes an hour to answer 127 questions. I tested myself the other day to see what I could do in an hour. If I read each question out loud and guessed about the answer then the hour works. However, it was not reality. Organizations can help their employees by providing them with the time to prepare and file the document for them selves or a family member. Recognize it as college preparation day and support the employees. Education is an important asset that each of us should support for the future of the organization, employee growth and the economy.

Each year technology allows employees to be more connected to the work place regardless of where they are.  The one aspect that is lacking is the education of employees to use secure networks.

Here are a few suggestions to post:

1.    Do not send private information about your self or others over public networks unless you know the site is secure.  Do not just assume it is secure; ask.

2.    Do not connect to just any public network you find, regardless of how strong the signal is.

3.    Use as a rule of thumb that the site should begin with https.  This usually means the site is secure.

Communication by organizations to its employees about changes in technology only helps the organization to be more proactive in managing its risk.  Technology changes the various aspects of risk each year.  It is a good reason for organizations to have some technology expertise even if contracted to know what equipment is necessary to keep their network secure and what to communicate to employees.

Nationwide unions have the ability to set up their own unionized nonprofits and compete.

There is a major lack of childcare units and access throughout the USA. Childcare and after school programs are funded with government funds and private pay. Early Childcare education has been shown to be important for every child.

There is a major lack of affordable housing. The unions have all of the necessary trades and the training systems to bring about a fundamental change in the number of units available.

The unions have been great advocates of a living wage. Housing costs and medical costs are two of the biggest factors effecting the amount of salary necessary to meet a living wage. Unions are used to running under contract standards. Thereby creating a work force that is credentialed and has a training program in place to apprentice individuals.