As Guideline's business has matured, we have received increasing interest from accountants and financial advisors looking to set up and manage the review of Guideline 401(k) plans on behalf of their clients. Guideline Pro is our answer to that interest.
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Advisors are now able to set up and review Guideline 401(k) plans from their very own purpose-built dashboard. Additionally, Guideline can process and pay Advisors’ asset-based advisory fees on behalf of plan sponsors (see below for more details).

To learn more about Guideline Pro, check out our announcement.
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Guideline is a full service 401(k) plan. Employers pay a flat fee, employees pay an account fee and a low fund expense (depending on which funds they invest in), and everyone understands what they are paying for. We know that being straightforward saves time – and money. Click here for an outline to our key services and pricing.
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Guideline Pro features the exact same service and pricing as our direct business. However, Guideline Pro is built specifically for financial advisors interested in providing Guideline 401(k) plans to their clients.
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The typical Guideline 401(k) client is a tech-savvy company establishing a 401(k) plan for the first time. These companies typically have less than 50 employees and use a cloud-based payroll provider, like Gusto, Zenefits, OnPay, ADP, Intuit/QuickBooks, Rippling and Square (click here to see the full list of supported payroll providers).
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That being said, many of our clients are established companies with hundreds of employees who are simply looking to minimize asset-based fees and offer the most participant-focused 401(k) plan possible.
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Payroll integration is one of Guideline’s main features — it allows us to automate plan administration and recordkeeping, which is a big relief for plan sponsors. Guideline features integrations with major cloud-based payroll companies (click here to see the full list of supported payroll providers).
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You can schedule time with a Guideline account executive to talk about plan design and compliance testing. See Guideline’s plan design options. Please note that every Guideline plan features automatic enrollment, and we do not currently support an hours-of-service (i.e., part-time employee) eligibility restriction.
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Guideline cuts participating employees’ costs by avoiding layers of fees and using low-cost index mutual funds. Guideline’s managed portfolios have blended expense ratios ranging from 0.064% to 0.067% of assets under management.** Expense ratios for custom portfolios will vary. These expense ratios are subject to change by and paid to the fund(s). Please see Guideline’s Complete Fund Menu here.

We also select a list of funds that are aligned with our responsibilities as a 3(38) fiduciary. Most Guideline participants will use our portfolio recommendation tool to invest in one of our recommended portfolios, but participants are given the option to create their own custom asset allocation from among the list of funds that we have curated.

In your Guideline Pro account, click “Add a Plan” > “No” to start setting up a new plan. The advisor can design the plan on behalf of the plan sponsor, or the advisor can simply enter the plan sponsor’s contact information, which will trigger an email to the plan sponsor asking them to complete plan set up. Whether the plan is being designed by the advisor or the plan sponsor, an authorized representative must be duly appointed by the plan sponsor to serve as the plan’s trustee and enter into a service agreement with Guideline.
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For companies with an existing 401(k) plan that are interested in transferring their plan to Guideline, the first step in the conversion process is for Guideline to conduct a plan review. While most plans are somewhat similar to a Guideline 401(k) plan, there are certain features of some plans that could complicate the conversion process, and Guideline wants to make advisors and plan sponsors aware of what a specific plan’s conversion process may entail before a decision is made one way or the other.
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In order to start a plan review, the adoption agreement for an existing 401(k) plan should be submitted to Guideline via our secure portal in your Guideline Pro account (click “Add a Plan” > “Yes” > “Another Provider” to submit the Adoption Agreement). Guideline will deliver your client’s plan review in approximately 2-3 business days to discuss any differences and next steps.
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We require all plan sponsors transferring an existing 401(k) to Guideline to set up and maintain a Enterprise plan for at least 1 year. After 1 year, the plan will be eligible to switch to a different pricing plan.
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Yes, Guideline can process and pay advisors asset-based advisory fees on behalf of plan sponsors. Fees are prorated daily and withdrawn from plan assets quarterly, in arrears. If you are interested in having Guideline process your advisory fee, please reach out to us at advisors@guideline.com.
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Yes, we have several helpful documents and guides you can share your prospective clients:

You can schedule a demo for prospective Guideline clients by reaching out to your dedicated sales representative.
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Your dedicated sales representative will be your main point of contact. Or you can contact the Guideline Pro team.
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Contact information as follows:
​advisors@guideline.com | Schedule a Call
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​* Guideline uses a third-party to provide custodial services. Custodial fees are paid by Guideline.

** The expense ratio information provided is accurate as of April 17, 2023. See our Form ADV 2A Brochure for more information about our fees.

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