Paychex Review

Though best known for its payroll services, Paychex also provides HR services, business insurance and employee benefits – including retirement plan services – to businesses of all sizes, from sole proprietorships to large corporations with more than 1,000 employees. It also works with financial advisors.

Visit our best picks page to see all of our recommendations for employee retirement providers.  Check out our reviews for Paychex's payroll and PEO services to learn more about this company's offerings. 

Paychex Retirement Services offers automatic enrollment options and a variety of retirement savings plans that include traditional, Roth and safe harbor 401(k) plans. It can bundle the record-keeping and third-party administration (TPA) to simplify plan management, and the company holds the title as the largest retirement plan record-keeper in the U.S. It works with your financial advisor or GuidedChoice to offer investment management and guidance to plan participants.

Pricing

Paychex doesn't post any pricing information for its retirement services on its website, and we were unable to get a pricing quote or estimate when we contacted the company by live chat and by phone. The company requires that you speak to or meet with a local rep for pricing specific to your business and the type of plan you choose. 

When you contact your local rep, you should ask about fees for both you, as the employer and plan sponsor, and for your employees, as plan participants. 

Plan sponsor fees to ask about include a setup fee, monthly service fees (for record-keeping, plan administration and fund custody), investment management fees and a plan termination fee. You should also ask if there is a service contract, how long the term is and if there are any early cancellation penalties. 

Plan participant fees to ask about include assets under management (AUM) and advisory fees, average fund expense ratios and trading fees. You also want to ask about incidental costs, such as loan origination and maintenance fees, distribution fees and required minimum distribution (RMD) fees. 

Features

Paychex lets you customize a retirement plan to fit your company. Each business is different, and this retirement service understands that you may have unique requirements. This employee retirement plan company works with you to structure a plan that meets the criteria you need in a quality employee retirement plan. 

Fiduciary support. Paychex provides plan administration and record-keeping. It gives you the option of working with GuidedSavings from GuidedChoice to meet the ERISA 3(38) fiduciary requirement. 

Record-keeping services. Paychex records and processes employee contributions to the plan. 

Plan administration. Serving as the third-party administrator (TPA) of your employee retirement plan, Paychex creates and manages the plan document, checks eligibility and enrolls participants, conducts quarterly compliance testing, prepares Form 5500 for the IRS, and processes employee loans. 

Payroll integration. If you already use Paychex as your payroll processor, you can directly integrate your retirement plan and payroll, streamlining administrative tasks. 

Reporting requirements. If you choose a 401(k) plan, you're required to file Form 5500 with the IRS. As the plan administrator, Paychex prepares this form for you. 

Investment options. Paychex says it offers thousands of investment options, including model portfolios, target date funds, preselected lineups and broker-specific rosters from Ameriprise, Edward Jones, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley. 

Loans. If you choose a 401(k) plan, participants may take out loans against their retirement savings accounts. Paychex processes them as part of its plan administration services. 

Account access. Paychex's employer website for its retirement plans allows you to access information about plan investments and participants. Your employees can log in to their account dashboards to monitor their balances and manage their contributions. Paychex also has a mobile app that employees can use to access their retirement accounts. 

Additional Considerations

Paychex offers customer support via phone, email and live chat. As part of our evaluation, we reached out to the company posing as a small business owner and asked several questions about its retirement plans. The representatives we communicated by chat and phone were prompt, friendly and eager to gather information about our business. But they couldn't tell us anything specific about Paychex retirement plan pricing or features. Rather, reps seek to set up meetings for its local reps. If you want to work with a company that has local reps, or if you already work with Paychex. this may be a good retirement plan provider for you to consider. But if you just want to find out if its plans have certain features or fit in your budget, you may find it time-consuming to get this information. 

If you prefer to research companies online, resources are limited. You can find general information about the retirement plans the company offers, watch a demo about its plan website for employers, read articles on its blog and use its retirement calculator. 

Drawbacks

Paychex isn't forthcoming about its pricing. It's not on its website, and when you call the company or reach out to chat online, representatives can't provide this information, but simply gather details about your business so they can put you in contact with local reps. You can't even get estimates or information on what types of fees the company charges without speaking to a local rep. 

While we recognize that the company seeks to customize its services and pricing, and support its local representatives, its competitors make it easier to get this information.

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