Why choose us?
It’s a simple way to turn small business 401(k) plans into a big opportunity.
Establishing a new retirement plan for a small business can take up to six weeks or more. There’s information to verify. Documents to sign. Details to coordinate. Now there’s a simple way to create startup plans in days instead of weeks, so you can focus on delivering value instead of managing paperwork.
Meet Simply Retirement by Principal®
We’ve paired decades of experience in retirement solutions and investments from Principal with the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of the Ubiquity Retirement + Savings® online recordkeeping platform, breaking down barriers like cost and complexity so you can help more small businesses offer their employees a way to save for retirement.That’s a big opportunity, considering there are still more than 5 million businesses that don’t currently offer a *
What Simply Retirement by Principal® offers you
Simply Retirement by Principal® was created specifically to simplify the process of setting up a retirement plan for small businesses with fewer than 100 employees. You can complete the plan design process for your clients right here online and share a link directly with your client and/or their financial professional. There’s even a print-friendly proposal worksheet you can walk through with your clients to help them make informed selections.
Simply Retirement by Principal® advantages
Predictable, no-guess pricing
A 401(k) plan with Simply Retirement by Principal® has simple, transparent pricing.
There’s a monthly recordkeeping fee as low as $145 ($435 billed quarterly), and a $6 monthly fee per participating * for plans where a third party administrator (TPA) provides select administrative services and bills for those services separately. These are consistent costs your clients can plan for in their budgets.
Simply Retirement by Principal®costs
(TPA services not included)
(TPA services not included)
A true 100% digital process
Simply Retirement by Principal® lets you complete every step in the process online, when and where it’s convenient for you and your clients.
From plan design and e-signing documents to census and onboarding, it all takes place on the Simply Retirement by Principal® digital platform. And once the plan is active, you and your clients can manage their retirement plan online through simple-to-use dashboards. They’ll be able to add employees, manage contributions, change account settings, and more, and you'll be able to view plan data and handle administrative tasks.
Automatic enrollment
As you create your clients’ plans online, you’ll have the option to select automatic enrollment.
Automatic enrollment may qualify your client for a SECURE 2.0 Act tax credit of up to $500 per tax year for the first three years of their *. This is a selling point, as it can help offset some of your clients' costs. Automatic enrollment can also help them increase participation, simplify administration, reduce follow-up, and help employees save for retirement. And participants can change their contribution and investment selection or opt out of the plan at any time.
Investments with strong performance
The Wilshire 3(38) investment option lineups offer strong performance with a competitive return, helping make the most of employees’ contributions and any matching contributions your client provides as a business owner.
Wilshire Advisors LLC will be the planʼs 3(38) investment fiduciary. They’ll provide objective, independent third-party oversight for the screening, selection, and monitoring of the plan’s investment options. They’ll also make changes to the *This service will help manage your clients’ related fiduciary liability.1 See Resources for a listing of investments.
Wilshire Advisors LLC is a diversified global financial services firm with more than 40 years of experience providing investment guidance to some of the largest plan sponsors in the U.S.
1The decision to delegate and ongoing monitoring of the service provider is ultimately a responsibility that belongs to the appropriate retirement plan fiduciaries. 2As of June 30, 2019. 3As of Jan. 31, 2019.
Payroll provider integration
Ubiquity Retirement + Savings® supports integrations with select payroll providers—helping business owners save time and reduce errors by automating contribution reporting.
Ubiquity supports direct integrations with dozens of payroll providers, including Paylocity and Namely. ADP, Paychex, QuickBooks®, and others are supported through add-on third party services. Ubiquity’s Payroll (K)oncierge service is available to help your clients get started.
Reduced risk
Your clients don’t have to be experts on regulations, because the administrative platform helps them determine what to do and when to do it.
Simply Retirement by Principal® takes the guesswork out of staying on top of plan compliance. Electronic participant statements, forms for tax filing and plan documents, participant disclosures, annual plan notifications, IRS plan compliance testing and monitoring, and eligibility notices are provided—meaning less work for your clients. Other plan features and options to help your clients with compliance include:
- Safe harbor matching options
- Pre-approved documents for plan participants
- Participant notifications
- Deadline reminders
See the 401(k) page for a full list of plan features.
Data accuracy and protection
To put it simply, your clients’ data is accurate and protected.
Ubiquity Retirement + Savings® knows how important security is to you and your clients. Ubiquity has completed the requirements for a Service Organization Control (SOC) 1, type 2 audit covering their proprietary Paradigm Recordkeeping System, which is the platform used by Simply Retirement by Principal®. The SOC 1 standard covers internal controls relevant to financial reporting at service organizations. Ubiquity’s continued investment in their SOC 1 program and reporting demonstrates their year-over-year commitment to ensuring complete and accurate financial accounting, as well as proper information technology general controls over their Paradigm Recordkeeping platform.
Ready to get started?
*Retirement plan:“Millions of American Workers Still Lack Access to 401(k),” American Retirement Association, July 2019.
Simply Retirement by Principal ® 401(k) plan recordkeeping and administrative services are provided through Decimal, Inc. dba Ubiquity Retirement + Savings (“Ubiquity”). Ubiquity is not affiliated with any plan and investment administrative services provided through Principal Life Insurance Co., or affiliated with any company of the Principal Financial Group ® . Principal makes available the investment options for customers to select through Simply Retirement by Principal ® . All other services provided by service providers not affiliated with any company of the Principal Financial Group. Refer to related documents and agreements for more details on plan services available.
Simply Retirement by Principal ® requires a client service agreement between Ubiquity and the plan sponsor (Customer). In addition to and as part of the services, each Customer will sign separate agreements with the following parties: (i) custodian (ii) 3(38) investment manager, and (iii) a Principal Life Insurance Company for each Principal Comprehensive Retirement Program (PCRP) offered through the Modular Group Annuity Contract for separate accounts, and a declaration of trust for Principal collective investment funds. Simply Retirement by Principal ® services and costs are subject to change.
*Per participating employee: Fees paid by the business owner are billed quarterly. Fees paid by participants are deducted monthly from participant accounts. Participant fees are charged if there is a $100 account balance, regardless of whether the participant is active or inactive. Custodial and investment fees are charged against participating employees’ accounts (those vary by investment and range from 0.03% - 0.86%, as of December 31, 2023). Your TPA fees and the financial professional fees are also additional and may be billed to the business owner. (Financial professional fees may be deducted from participant accounts.)
*Recordkeeping fee:Pricing shown applies when working with a TPA. Bundled pricing is a $500 initial setup fee, then $185 per month. Fees paid by the business owner are billed quarterly. Fees paid by participants are deducted monthly from participant accounts. Participant fees are charged if there is a $100 account balance, regardless of whether the participant is active or inactive. Custodial and investment fees are charged against participating employees’ accounts (those vary by investment and range from 0.03% - 0.86%, as of December 31, 2023). If the business owner chooses to work with a financial professional and/or TPA, their fees are also additional and may be billed to the business owner. Financial professional fees may be deducted from participant accounts.
*What’s included: Plan costs are billed quarterly. Custodial and investment fees are charged against participating employees’ accounts (those vary by investment and range from 0.03% – 0.86%, as of December 31, 2023). Should you choose to work with a financial professional, their fee is also additional.
*Plan: This credit is for plans that include the eligible automatic contribution arrangement (EACA) feature only. In addition, SECURE 2.0 Act legislation allows small businesses with no more than 100 employees to claim a tax credit of 50% of the qualifying start-up costs for a new employee retirement plan for the first three years of the plan as follows but limited to the greater of (1) $500 or (2) the lesser of (a) $250 for each non-highly compensated employee who is eligible to participate in the plan or (b) $5,000. Information about the SECURE Act is educational only and provided with the understanding that Principal® is not rendering legal, accounting, investment advice or tax advice. You should consult with appropriate counsel or other financial professionals on all matters pertaining to legal, tax, investment or accounting obligations and requirements.
*Investment lineup as appropriate: As part of the Simply Retirement by Principal® solution, Wilshire Investments, Inc. is the fiduciary responsible for the selection and monitoring of the investments.
Intended for TPA and financial professional use.
