Retirement Plan Research on the Internet

By Rick Meigs, President, 401khelpcenter.com, and Dave Baker, Founder, Benefitslink.com

The Internet can be an amazing tool for retirement plan professionals. It contains a wealth of good data from a wide variety of sources that can help you answer specific questions or provide guidance on a particular issue.

But finding those resources on the Internet can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. There are millions of web pages published by specialists, vendors, plan sponsor associations, professional associations, research groups and others. The information you want is there someplace. The trick is in finding them!

The purpose of this article is to help you locate what you need quickly and then evaluate the information you found.

Finding Information

The Internet is comprised of many types of websites including websites that are there to sell products, those that act as online brochures, those that are designed specifically to serve the needs of an organization such as a trade group, others that provide general information on a broad range of issues and topics, and sites that are known as "authority" sites.

Authority Sites

An authority site is one that is recognized for the depth and breadth of the information it contains on a specific subject. Some authority sites require a paid subscription and others can be accessed at no cost. In the retirement plan arena, the following sites are considered some of the best no cost "authority" sites:

401khelpcenter.com (www.401khelpcenter.com): As the name implies, focused heavy on all aspects of 401(k) plans. It is a principal provider of information, opinion, tips, analysis, news, rules, and other resources for 401(k) plan sponsors, retirement professionals, and plan participants. We have thousands of articles and sources of information to answer your questions.

Benefitslink (www.benefitslink.com): Most employee benefit plans are heavily regulated by frequently-revised federal laws (especially ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code). People who are responsible for properly operating or servicing those plans must know and keep up with a great deal of changing information. This site supports people who design and run employee benefit plans in the United States, whether sponsored by private or governmental employers.

Employee Benefit Research Institute (www.ebri.org): This is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed exclusively to data dissemination, policy research, and education on economic security and employee benefits.

Internal Revenue Service (www.irs.gov/retirement/index.html): Rich in useful retirement plan information for plan sponsors, practitioners and employers.

U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (www.dol.gov/ebsa/): This is the Federal government agency that protects the integrity of pensions, health plans, and other employee benefits.

Search Engines

The Internet is not like going to a bookstore with its shelves of well organized books. Attempting to browse the Internet like you do a bookstore for the information you need is very unlikely to be successful. This is where a search engine comes in.

A search engine is nothing more than an automated card catalog like you would find at a library. You simply enter the subject you are looking for and up pops a long list of potential websites that cover that subject. The key to finding the right information on a search engine is using the right keywords. Keep these tips in mind in selecting keywords:

Don't limit yourself to one keyword. Use multiple keywords. Using the keyword "ERISA" is not as likely to help you find specific information on an issue as using "ERISA fiduciary liability."
Try the obvious first. If you're looking for information on Safe Harbor 401(k) plans, enter "Safe Harbor 401(k) plans" rather than "retirement plans."
Use keywords likely to appear on a site with the information you want. "Market timing mutual funds 401(k)" gets better results than "timing mutual funds in a 401(k)."
Make keywords as specific as possible. "IR-2003-122" gets more relevant results than "IRS plan limits."

Google (www.google.com) and Yahoo! (www.yahoo.com) are the two most popular and effective search engines.

Forums

One of the best things about the Internet is the access it can give you to experts in just about any field where you have an interest. This is particularly true of the retirement industry. One of the best places to "ask an expert" is at the BenefitsLink Forum (http://benefitslink.com/boards/index.php). This benefits forum has over 13,000 registered users who discuss a wide variety of subjects categorized in over 50 broad themes.

Additional Sources

The 401khelpcenter.com (www.401khelpcenter.com) has created topical subject groups called COLLECTED WISDOM™. These groups cover a wide range of subjects from Fiduciary Responsibilities and Liabilities to Automatic Enrollment. They contain links to the best articles and information from across the Internet on the specific subject of the COLLECTED WISDOM™. They are a good way to quickly locate key information from a wide range of Internet based resources.

BenefitsLink has an excellent page called "Using the Web for Employee Benefits Research: Recommended Links" (http://benefitslink.com/articles/usingweb.html). This is a highly organized, annotated list of online resources for performing employee benefits research online. The list is not intended to be comprehensive, but it does contains almost all of the online resources that a busy employee benefits practitioner would find most useful.

Evaluating Resources

Finding the information you want on the Internet is only the first step. There is a lot of material available, but not all of it is equally reliable and useful. When you are looking for information on a specific retirement plan issue, you often have to make judgments about the merits of the data you found. Before you use any material you have found, you need to spend some time evaluating it for accuracy and reliability.

We have put together the following helpful questions as a guide in evaluating Internet based retirement plan resources.¹

Who is responsible for this information being here?
The status of the writer or website sponsor is often of considerable importance in deciding the reliability of information. You can probably assume that material written or otherwise provided by a known expert in the field is likely to be reliable. Resources provided under the auspices of a recognized institution might be considered reliable as well. But what about a vendor or lobbying groups website?

Why is this material here?
Who put the material on the Internet and why? Think about whether they might have some reason other than pure helpfulness for posting information. Many special interest groups have web pages, and while this doesn't necessarily mean the material is biased, it is something you need to think about. All sorts of groups now have websites and obviously all of them have a message they are trying to get across. Think about what is being said and why the material is there.

Can I do a cross check?
Think about ways you might cross check the information you have found. You might have a look at another site with similar material, ask somebody who knows something about the topic, or have a look at books on the subject. Use your own experience as well. If you have already done some research in the area you will already have some knowledge of the subject. So ask yourself, "How does this material fit in with what I already know?"

How old is the material?
Sometimes the age of information matters. If you need current statistics, then check the age of the material you have found. But remember, just because information isn't regularly changed or a few years old doesn't mean it is outdated or unreliable.

1. Based on tips provided by the Department of Education & Training, State of Victoria, Australia, in "Using the Internet."

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