Description

A focused course, tailored for you

The ERISA Compliance Manager's SECURE 2.0 Implementation Course

A skills course for ERISA Compliance Managers at retirement plan recordkeepers turning SECURE 2.0 provisions into operational controls, plan-document amendments, and audit-ready evidence.

Your plan documents are amended on schedule. Your recordkeeping platform is configured. The piece nobody has is the control evidence that proves the LTPT tracking, the auto-enrollment defaults, the Roth catch-up routing, and the PTE 2020-02 disclosures are actually firing correctly across every plan on the book. This course closes that gap, module by module.

$199 one-time

Tailored to your situation. Access within 24 hours. 30-day money-back.

Includes a hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access, generated for your specific situation.

Why this course

The ERISA Compliance Manager at a major recordkeeper sits between three pressures at once. The plan-sponsor clients want a clear answer on which provisions are mandatory now, which are optional, and which apply only to new plans. The IRS and DOL examiners want artefacts: who tracks LTPT hours, what the exception report looks like, how missed deferrals get corrected, what notice went out and when. And the internal product and operations teams want the compliance answer translated into a system configuration and a control owner. The thin spot is rarely the legal interpretation. It is the operational control layer that turns the legal interpretation into something an examiner can verify. Catch-up contributions for participants over the wage threshold need a Roth control. Mandatory auto-enrollment for plans established after the trigger date needs a default-deferral and escalation control with notice evidence. LTPT eligibility needs a 500-hour tracking control that survives payroll-vendor changes and acquisitions. Emergency savings accounts need a separate account-treatment control with contribution caps. Each one needs a control owner, a frequency, a sample size, an exception report, and a remediation path. That control catalogue is the deliverable this course produces.

What you walk away with

A complete control catalogue for the SECURE 2.0 provisions effective in the current cycle, with owner, frequency, sample size, and exception report defined for each.
An LTPT eligibility tracking control that survives payroll-vendor changes, plan acquisitions, and rehire scenarios.
An auto-enrollment default deferral and escalation control with the participant notice evidence chain ready for a DOL examiner.
A Roth catch-up routing control for participants over the wage threshold, with the corrective-distribution playbook for misrouted contributions.
A refreshed PTE 2020-02 disclosure and rollover recommendation file that holds up under the Retirement Security Rule.
A board-ready summary that translates each provision into operational status: amended, configured, controlled, and evidenced.

The 12 modules

Module 1. The SECURE 2.0 Provision Map for Recordkeepers

The course opens with a provision-by-provision map of every SECURE 2.0 section that touches a recordkeeper or plan sponsor, with effective dates, optional versus mandatory status, plan types affected, and the operational consequence. The output of this module is the matrix that drives every subsequent module. You leave with a worked example covering more than thirty provisions and the rationale for which ones become control-catalogue entries versus plan-document amendments only.

Module 2. LTPT Eligibility Tracking as an Operational Control

Long-term part-time employee eligibility is the provision with the highest exam-finding risk because it requires hours tracking back across three consecutive years and it survives across payroll vendors and plan acquisitions. This module builds the LTPT tracking control end to end: the data feed from payroll, the 500-hour aggregation logic, the rehire and break-in-service treatment, the exception report, the sample-size standard, and the evidence package the auditor will ask for.

Module 3. Mandatory Auto-Enrollment and Auto-Escalation Controls

For plans established after the trigger date, auto-enrollment with auto-escalation is mandatory. This module walks the default-deferral percentage band, the escalation schedule, the QDIA selection, the participant notice content and timing, the opt-out window, and the correction path when a participant was not auto-enrolled who should have been. You build the control with frequency, owner, sample, and the EPCRS self-correction memo template for missed-deferral errors.

Module 4. Roth Catch-Up Routing for High-Wage Participants

The mandatory Roth treatment for catch-up contributions by participants over the prior-year wage threshold creates a routing problem. This module covers the wage-threshold determination, the participant communication, the recordkeeping system routing logic, the corrective-distribution path when a catch-up posts pre-tax in error, the W-2 coordination with payroll, and the year-end reconciliation control. The output is the routing-control evidence package.

Module 5. Emergency Savings Sidecar Account Treatment

The pension-linked emergency savings account is a sidecar with its own contribution cap, withdrawal rules, automatic enrollment treatment, and matching contribution interaction. This module covers eligibility, the contribution cap and the cap-handling logic, the four-per-year free-withdrawal rule, the matching treatment, the post-employment treatment, and the coordination with the main account. You leave with the account-treatment control and the participant disclosure template.

Module 6. Saver's Match and Federal Matching Contribution Reporting

The replacement of the Saver's Credit with the federal Saver's Match creates a recordkeeping and reporting obligation. This module covers eligibility determination, the matching-contribution mechanics, the reporting flow to the IRS, the participant notice, the deposit timing, and the coordination with state-facilitated retirement programmes. The output is the saver's match operational control and the reconciliation evidence.

Module 7. Catch-Up Limits, Super Catch-Ups, and Indexation

The new super catch-up window for participants in a specific age band, the indexation of the IRA catch-up limit, and the general catch-up dollar increases all create system-configuration tests. This module walks the per-plan-year configuration test, the participant-communication artefact, the contribution-limit reconciliation control, and the year-end true-up. You leave with the configuration-test evidence package.

Module 8. Forfeiture Use Rules and the Final Regulation

The final forfeiture regulation tightens the timeline for using forfeitures and creates documentation expectations. This module covers the forfeiture-source identification, the use-priority order in the plan document, the twelve-month rule, the suspense-account treatment, and the year-end forfeiture-allocation control. The output is the forfeiture control and the evidence trail an auditor will accept.

Module 9. Missing Participant Procedures and the DOL Database

The missing-participant retirement savings lost and found database changes the operational picture for unresponsive participants and uncashed distributions. This module covers the participant-search procedure, the database-search and database-report obligation, the small-balance involuntary cashout treatment, the unresponsive-participant treatment for required minimum distributions, and the documentation that closes a missing-participant file. You leave with the missing-participant control and the database-search evidence template.

Module 10. PTE 2020-02 and the Retirement Security Rule Refresh

The Retirement Security Rule changes the fiduciary perimeter for rollover recommendations. PTE 2020-02 still requires the written disclosure, the rollover-recommendation file, the annual review, and the cause-based remediation. This module rebuilds the PTE 2020-02 file under the new rule: the impartial conduct standards, the written acknowledgement of fiduciary status, the rollover-specific reason file, the annual review evidence, and the cause-based remediation triggers.

Module 11. Cybersecurity Guidance and the Plan Sponsor Conversation

DOL cybersecurity guidance for plan sponsors, recordkeepers, and participants is now an examination focus. This module covers the twelve cybersecurity programme best practices, the service-provider tips, the participant best practices, the SOC 2 evidence the recordkeeper provides, the plan-sponsor cybersecurity-questionnaire response template, and the incident-notification path. You leave with the cybersecurity evidence package and the plan-sponsor talking-point document.

Module 12. Putting the Control Catalogue in Front of an Examiner

The final module assembles every prior module's output into a single examiner-ready control catalogue. Each provision has its owner, frequency, sample size, exception report, evidence location, and remediation path. The module walks the DOL 10b examination opening conference, the document request list, the IRS Notice response, the EPCRS self-correction file, and the board-summary artefact that translates the catalogue into operational status. You leave with the catalogue, the response file, and the board summary.

How this addresses your situation

Specific modules that map to what you said you are dealing with.

Modules 1 and 12 produce the matrix and the catalogue artefacts that anchor every other control.

Modules 2, 3, 4, and 7 cover the provisions with the highest exam-finding risk for recordkeepers: LTPT, auto-enrollment, Roth catch-up, and limit configuration.

Modules 5, 6, 8, and 9 cover the provisions where operational treatment varies most across plan types and where a recordkeeper has to make a documented choice.

Modules 10 and 11 cover the two adjacent regimes that touch every ERISA Compliance Manager's desk: rollover fiduciary rule and DOL cybersecurity guidance.

What you get with this course

Twelve text-based course modules in the Art of Service learning environment.
Downloadable control matrix, exception-report template, and participant-notice template for every provision module.
A hand-built implementation playbook mapped to the buyer's recordkeeping platform and current plan-document language.
Worked examples of an LTPT tracking control, an auto-enrollment correction memo, a Roth catch-up routing control, and a PTE 2020-02 rollover file.
A board-ready provision-status summary template.
30-day refund window.

What you will have in hand by Day 1, Week 1, Month 1

Within 24 hours of purchase: course access provisioned in the Art of Service learning environment, all twelve modules unlocked.

Within 24 hours of purchase: the hand-built implementation playbook is delivered alongside course access, mapped to the buyer's recordkeeping platform and plan-document language.

First week recommended pace: modules 1 through 4 plus the LTPT and auto-enrollment control templates.

Second week recommended pace: modules 5 through 9 plus the forfeiture and missing-participant control templates.

Third week recommended pace: modules 10 through 12 plus the PTE 2020-02 file refresh and the examiner-ready catalogue assembly.

Before and after

Before

The compliance team has read the IRS Notices and the DOL guidance, amended the plan documents, and configured the recordkeeping system. The control evidence layer is partial. Some provisions have an owner and a frequency. Others sit in a memo that nobody has converted into a control. The next DOL examination or plan audit will surface that gap.

After

Every effective-now SECURE 2.0 provision has an entry in the control catalogue with owner, frequency, sample size, exception report, evidence location, and remediation path. The LTPT, auto-enrollment, Roth catch-up, and PTE 2020-02 controls have worked-example evidence packages. The board summary translates the catalogue into operational status. The examiner sees a catalogue, not a memo.

What happens if you do not address this

The legal interpretation is settled. The operational control layer is what closes findings. Without the catalogue, the next DOL examination or plan audit converts a documentary gap into a finding, the recordkeeper carries the corrective-cost conversation with the plan sponsor, and the compliance team spends three months rebuilding evidence after the fact. The provisions are effective whether the controls are built or not.

Who it is for

An ERISA Compliance Manager at a retirement plan recordkeeper, broker-dealer, or large plan sponsor. Two to ten years of ERISA exposure. Reads the IRS Notices and the DOL guidance the day they drop. Writes the compliance memos that get summarised up. Owns or co-owns the control catalogue that gets handed to the plan auditor and to the DOL on a 10b examination. Knows the plan-document side cold. Wants the operational control side built out with the same rigour.

Who this is NOT for. Not for plan-sponsor HR generalists. Not for financial advisors selling rollover business. Not for ERISA attorneys writing plan documents from scratch. This is for the compliance owner who already speaks ERISA and now has to ship operational controls that map to the legislative provisions.

How it arrives

Text-based course in the Art of Service learning environment, plus downloadable control matrices, exception-report templates, and participant-notice templates for every module, plus the hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access.

Time investment. Approximately three to four hours per module across twelve modules. Three weeks at a controlled pace, one week at a compressed pace, on the buyer's schedule.

Why $199 is the right number

Free DOL and IRS guidance covers the legal text but not the control layer. ERISA-attorney memos cover the plan-document amendments but not the operational evidence. Recordkeeping-platform release notes cover the system configuration but not the control catalogue. This course is the missing connective layer that turns the three into one examiner-ready package.

FAQ

Does this assume a specific recordkeeping platform?

No. The control catalogue is platform-agnostic. The hand-built implementation playbook is mapped to the buyer's specific platform after purchase, drawing on the recordkeeping platform named in the welcome questionnaire.

Does this cover defined-benefit plans?

The course is primarily a defined-contribution course. Defined-benefit provisions, including the cash-balance and frozen-plan treatments, are covered where SECURE 2.0 reaches them, but the operational depth is on the defined-contribution side.

How current is the content?

The course is updated as the IRS issues further guidance and as the DOL finalises pending rules. Buyers receive the updates inside the same course access. The implementation playbook is rebuilt on request once a major final rule lands.

Can the implementation playbook reference my specific plan-document language?

Yes. The welcome questionnaire asks for the plan-document type, the recordkeeping platform, and any provision elections already made. The playbook is hand-built against those answers.

30-day money-back guarantee. If after a week of working through the materials this is not what you needed, reply to the receipt email and a full refund is processed. No questions, no forms.

Within 24 hours your account in the learning environment is provisioned and the tailored implementation playbook is delivered alongside it.