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Business Retirement Plans

A 401(k) that recruits, retains, and quietly cuts your tax bill.

Solo 401(k) for a one-person LLC. Safe Harbor for a 75-person firm. Designed alongside your CPA, funded directly from payroll — because all three live in the same office.

What we cover on this page
  1. 01The 401(k) plan types we design
  2. 02How contributions actually flow
  3. 03Why a 3(38) fiduciary matters
  4. 04A few common questions
Native integration with Unify Payroll for contributions; coordinated with Unify CPA on every tax decision.
Plan Types

Pick the right plan for your stage.

We pick the structure that maxes out owner contributions while staying right-sized for the team. Three options, one right answer for where you are.

Solo 401(k)

1-person LLC / S-Corp

Owner-only businesses. The highest-contribution retirement vehicle available to a solo professional, full stop.

  • Employee + employer contributions
  • Roth & traditional treatment
  • No 5500 filing under $250K

Safe Harbor 401(k)

5–100 employees

Where most growing Colorado employers land. Predictable cost, no failed testing, maximum owner deferrals.

  • 100% match up to 4% (or 3% nonelective)
  • Skips ADP/ACP testing automatically
  • Optional profit sharing on top

Traditional 401(k)

Larger / mature firms

Maximum design flexibility. Best when participation is high enough to skip Safe Harbor without testing failures.

  • Custom match formulas
  • Vesting schedules supported
  • Loans & hardship optional

What about SIMPLE IRAs and SEPs?

Occasionally a fit. More often they leave money on the table next to a properly designed 401(k) — lower limits, less flexibility, weaker tax planning. We'll evaluate either if asked, but expect us to argue for a 401(k) in most conversations.

Integrated with Unify Payroll

Contributions that actually flow — no reconciling, no missed deferrals.

The most common complaint about 401(k) plans is the contribution-flow nightmare: payroll deducts on Friday, the plan vendor doesn't post until Wednesday, and someone has to reconcile the gap. Or doesn't.

  • Same-week deferrals. For example: Payroll cuts on Friday, plan account is funded by Tuesday — every cycle.
  • One source of truth. Employee enrollment, deferral changes, and loan repayments live in one system, not three.
  • Year-end testing built in. ADP/ACP and top-heavy testing run continuously, not as a March panic.

Contribution flow example

Payroll run
Friday
→
Reconciliation
Same day
→
Plan account
By Tuesday
One vendor, one feed, one source of truth — instead of three.
3(38) Fiduciary Investment Management

Don't carry investment liability you weren't hired to carry.

ERISA holds plan sponsors personally liable for the investment menu — unless that duty is delegated to a 3(38) fiduciary. Most plan vendors are 3(21) “co-fiduciaries” who advise; they don't take the liability. We do.

  • Full investment authority. We pick, monitor, and replace funds — and we take the legal accountability for those decisions.
  • Documented Investment Policy Statement. A formal written process for fund selection that satisfies the DOL's “procedural prudence” standard.
  • Annual fund review. Costs, performance, and risk benchmarks reviewed against peers — with written meeting minutes you can show in an audit.

Who carries the investment liability?

3(21)
Most plan vendors & fee-based advisorsAdvise on investments. You still hold the liability as plan sponsor.
3(38)
Unify Wealth ManagementFull discretionary authority. We hold the liability — you delegate it cleanly.
Common questions

Frequently asked, briefly answered.

Do we have to switch payroll providers?
No. Most clients do choose to consolidate with Unify Payroll — that’s where the deepest integration benefits live — but our 401(k) services work with Gusto, ADP, Paychex, QuickBooks Payroll, and most other major providers. We just integrate the contribution feed via SFTP / API.
What happens to our existing plan during a transition?
Plan transitions are routine. We coordinate the timing with your prior recordkeeper, run a “blackout period” notice (typically 10 business days), transfer assets in-kind where possible, and re-enroll participants in the new investment menu. Most transitions take 60–90 days from engagement letter to fully operational.
How does the 3(38) liability transfer actually work?
It’s a written delegation in the plan’s IPS and adoption agreement. Once executed, the plan sponsor (you) is no longer liable for the prudence of investment selection — we are. You retain the duty to monitor us, but that’s a much smaller burden than monitoring the entire fund universe yourself.
Can highly compensated employees max out without testing failures?
In a Safe Harbor design, yes — that’s the entire point. Safe Harbor plans are exempt from ADP/ACP testing, so HCEs (and especially owner-employees) can defer the full $23,500 (2026, plus $7,500 catch-up at 50+) regardless of what rank-and-file employees do.
What’s profit sharing and is it worth adding?
Profit sharing is an additional employer contribution on top of any match — discretionary year-by-year, fully tax-deductible, and can disproportionately benefit older owner-employees through cross-tested or “new comparability” formulas. For owner-led firms with under 25 employees, it’s almost always worth a conversation. We model it for every Safe Harbor plan we design.

Worth a 30-minute conversation?

Send your current plan docs — or just your headcount. We'll come back with honest observations and a rough plan-design recommendation. No commitment, no pitch deck.

Book a Call 970.484.9655