Editors Score:8.7/10
ShareBuilder 401k has the best safe harbor 401(k) plan for small businesses because it’s affordable, assumes fiduciary responsibility and is a full-stack solution.
Pros
- ShareBuilder 401k guarantees that your investment fees will stay below 1%.
- ShareBuilder 401k charges a flat monthly fee that may decrease as you add more assets or plan participants.
- The company offers a wide selection of account types and investment options.
Cons
- There are no IRA options.
- ShareBuilder 401k does not offer a mobile app.
Looking for more options?
For more options, check out the rest of Business News Daily’s picks for the The Best Employee Retirement Plans for Small Businesses 2024.
See All Best Picks
- The total investment fees for ShareBuilder 401k are under 1%.
- Plans include full administration, recordkeeping, auto-enrollment and payroll integration.
- ShareBuilder also offers cost-effective solo 401(k) plans for self-employed individuals.
- This review is for small business owners and HR professionals who are considering ShareBuilder 401k as their employee retirement provider.
For many small businesses, cost is a priority when offering employee retirement benefits. ShareBuilder 401k is an online employee retirement benefits provider that offers low-cost retirement plans that are ideal for small businesses that want to provide a set of low-cost, diversified investment options. ShareBuilder 401k guarantees that employees’ investment fees stay below 1%, making it our pick for the best retirement provider for low fees.
ShareBuilder 401k Editor's Rating:
8.7 / 10
- Transparent pricing
- 8.5/10
- Low employee investment fees
- 10/10
- Variety of plans
- 10/10
- Customization
- 6/10
- Integration with HR and payroll tools
- 9/10
Plans
Unlike some top employee retirement providers, ShareBuilder does not offer multiple service tiers. Instead, employers can choose from four types of 401(k) plans: solo, safe harbor, traditional and tiered profit-sharing. Each of these tiers is available for a flat monthly administration fee. They all come with a range of services and features, such as investment management, payroll integration and online resources.
Additional Features
- Plan administration: ShareBuilder’s solo 401(k) is fully administered, while other plan types include ongoing investment roster management, such as ERISA 3(38) coverage. ShareBuilder is competitive with ADP on this front, as both brands offer options with full administration.
- Compliance and recordkeeping: ShareBuilder provides a fully administered solo 401(k) plan, including IRS Form 5500, as well as signature-ready Forms 5500 for other plan types.
- Automatic discounts: ShareBuilder 401k automatically adjusts administrative costs and management fees based on the total number of participating employees and total plan assets. This feature is unique among the brands we reviewed.
- Payroll integration: ShareBuilder integrates with many of the best payroll service providers, including ADP, Paychex, Paylocity and Zenefits. Employers can also choose to enter payroll manually.
- Auto-enrollment: ShareBuilder’s safe harbor, traditional and tiered profit-sharing 401(k) plans include automatic enrollment with qualified default investment options.
- Educational resources: Employees and employers can take advantage of ShareBuilder’s model portfolios, webinars, guides, videos and calculators to make investment decisions.
- Dedicated success management: All ShareBuilder 401k accounts come with dedicated success managers. This ShareBuilder 401k contact will remain in touch throughout your setup period and long afterward. On this front, ShareBuilder 401k edges out Human Interest, a great pick that nevertheless only offers dedicated account management to the highest-paying customers.
Account Types
Small businesses that use ShareBuilder 401k to manage their employee retirement benefits can choose from several standard 401(k) plans. Each plan type has its own rules and regulations, as determined by the IRS.
- Solo 401(k): Intended for self-employed business owners, ShareBuilder 401k’s solo 401(k) plan has Roth 401(k) and tax-deferred options. It offers access to the platform’s full range of investments.
- Safe harbor 401(k): A safe harbor 401(k) lets owners and highly compensated employees contribute to their retirement plans without restrictions. Profit-sharing is available, matching is required, and employers automatically satisfy IRS requirements.
- Traditional 401(k): An extremely flexible option that lets employers choose employer match amounts, vesting schedules and employee eligibility requirements. Profit sharing is optional, but unlike with a safe harbor 401(k), IRS testing is required.
- Tiered profit-sharing 401(k): This type of 401(k) is aimed at incentivizing employees based on factors such as department and tenure. ShareBuilder’s tiered profit-sharing plan offers more advanced profit-sharing options than the platform’s other 401(k) plans.
Investment Options
ShareBuilder offers retirement plans that let employers and employees choose from 22 index funds, one money market and five model portfolios. Although the company’s list of available investment options is not incredibly long, it is a solid selection of diversified options that allow participants to invest at a low cost and without undue risk. We appreciated how easy this list was to find, as many other vendors are more secretive about their investment options.
Employees can choose investments from the following types of funds:
- Equity funds
- Bond funds
- Specialty funds
- Stable value funds
In addition, ShareBuilder offers model portfolios to help employees understand how to allocate their funds according to their preferred strategy.
Tip: If you’re looking for a retirement benefits provider with more extensive investment options, consider our review of ADP employee retirement or our Paychex employee retirement review.
Ease of Use
It can sometimes be a challenge to extend a good benefits program to employees that can boost company morale and reduce employee turnover, but that’s not the case with ShareBuilder 401k. To get started, call the sales team or click the Get Pricing button on the company’s homepage. Then, provide details about your business, including the company name, how many employees or owners you have, and whether or not you have an existing 401(k) plan. Next, indicate whether you already have a retirement plan and whether you need a safe harbor plan.
After that, ShareBuilder will recommend an appropriate plan for your needs and give you a quote. The process typically takes only five minutes, with another 10 to 20 minutes needed afterward to set up your account.
ShareBuilder users can log in to the administrator dashboard through the platform’s website. Notably, however, the company does not have a mobile app, whereas all our other top employee retirement picks do have mobile apps.
Methodology
To figure out our top pick for low-fee employee retirement plans, we looked through prominent plan providers’ websites for fee information. We also spoke directly with company representatives to fill in any information gaps on their websites. Our goal was to establish which provider would deduct the least amount of money from employee and employer investments.
In our decision-making process, we prioritized the companies that were upfront with all their pricing details. The provider also had to be upfront about its plan types and investment options. This way, business owners know why they’re paying their fees, even when low. ShareBuilder 401k met all these criteria.
ShareBuilder 401k FAQs
ShareBuilder 401k is a 401k provider that caters to small and midsize businesses. The company focuses solely on this service rather than also overseeing payroll, HR and non-retirement employee benefits, as with some competitors.
ShareBuilder 401k is a great employee retirement plan provider that offers diverse investment options, low investment fees and pricing discounts as your participating employees and invested assets increase.
ING Direct acquired ShareBuilder 401k in 2007, and Capital One acquired ING Direct in 2012. More recently, in 2019, ShareBuilder 401k was spun off of Capital One and became an independent company again.
ShareBuilder left Capital One in 2019, when the company, which had been acquired as part of Capital One’s acquisition of ING Direct in 2012, was spun off to an independent group that included some of the firm’s original founders.
ShareBuilder was spun off of Capital One in 2019, but it is not going away. While the company is no longer part of Capital One, it is still accessible to existing customers and provides employer-sponsored retirement plans through its own independent offerings.
Overall Value
We recommend ShareBuilder 401k for …
- Self-employed individuals who want an easy-to-manage solo 401(k).
- Businesses that want to offer a safe harbor 401(k) with low fees.
- Small business owners who want a hands-off way to offer an employee retirement plan.
We don’t recommend ShareBuilder 401k for …
- Business owners seeking SIMPLE IRAs instead of 401(k) plans.
- Businesses that need a mobile app for their employee retirement vendor.
Dock Treece also contributed to this article.
