This week on T3 I take a look at the SMB technology 401K solution Guideline. Guideline is an all-inclusive 401(k) plan for growing businesses that’s easy for employers to set up and even easier for employees to enroll and save.first full-service 401(k) without management fees or hidden costs. Employers pay a flat fee, employees pay a low fund expense, and everyone understands what they are paying for. We know that being straightforward saves time – and money.

Guideline claims to be the first full-service 401(k) without management fees or hidden costs. Employers pay a flat fee, employees pay a low fund expense, and everyone understands what they are paying for. We know that being straightforward saves time and money. The platform simplifies retirement saving by making it easy for employees to learn about investment options, manage their portfolio, and monitor performance.

Let’s be clear, this is not your local bank’s 401K plan with a dashboard. Guideline is specifically designed for small businesses. Currently, Guideline has over 1500 SMBs on the platform and is growing at a rate of 150-200 new businesses each month. This growth alone shows how ridiculously awesome this technology is! The average Guideline client has around 10 employees, but it can work for businesses as small as 2 employees and as many as 250.

What I like about Guideline: 

– Everything you pay (the fees per employee) and anything your employees would pay, is clearly stated. This is a complete departure from your typical bank 401K plan that has fees baked-in and hidden you and your employees have no idea you’re truly paying.

– 100% auto enrollment of all employees. This is a best practice in larger organizations and I love that they made this a non-negotiable within their technology. The default is all of your employees will join 401K, the hardest step in beginning a retirement plan. It’s up to them to then opt-out. Almost none will, and they’ll thank you for it!

– All non-discrimination and safe harbor testing is built right into the technology and will deliver you back recommendations of things you can do to stay compliant. Banks scare you into believing you can never handle your own 401K because of these issues and Guideline has you covered.

– Company 401k match is optional, but built into the system as well if you choose to use it.

– Guideline connects right to your payroll provider, with built integrations with Gusto, BambooHR, Paylocity, etc. You can also manually upload if you do your own manual payroll.

– Guideline is built to be native on mobile. Easy to use mobile app for all employees to check, track and change their investment options.

You know I’m a fan of any SMB technology that is truly built to help small and growing organizations compete at the same level as the big boys. Guideline fits that bill perfectly. We know 401K participation has a direct line to a higher tenure of employees, and Guideline makes it simple for SMBs to now offer a retirement savings plan to their employees no matter what your size.

T3 – Talent Tech Tuesday – is a weekly series here at The Project to educate and inform everyone who stops by on a daily/weekly basis on some great recruiting and sourcing technologies that are on the market.  None of the companies who I highlight are paying me for this promotion.  There are so many really cool things going on in the tech space and I wanted to educate myself and share what I find.  If you want to be on T3 – just send me a note – timsackett@comcast.net