Plan sponsor newsletter

John Hancock is recognizing October 17 as National TPA Day—the ninth year we’re celebrating this occasion—to show our appreciation for the value third-party administrators (TPAs) bring to retirement plans like yours. TPAs are versatile service providers that can help:

• Create and implement thoughtful plan designs to align with your business goals
• Take on administrative tasks that your staff may not have the expertise or capacity to manage
• Keep your plan in compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements
• Take on certain fiduciary responsibilities you don’t wish to retain

Join us in celebrating the TPAs that partner with you to provide the retirement solutions you and your employees need.

Visit our National TPA Day web page.

Your employee census data plays a pivotal role in our ability to service your participants. Without this information, your participants can’t register their accounts online, which means they also can’t:

• Take advantage of our Cybersecurity Guarantee¹
• Request online withdrawals
• Access our retirement app and other tools
• Receive personalized communications to help strengthen their financial well-being 

So, send or update your employee information today. You can find the instructions in this census data flyer and video.

Thank you in advance for helping us help your participants make the most of your retirement plan.

Please contact your John Hancock representative if you have questions or need assistance submitting your census information.

Are you taking advantage of online withdrawals for your plan? This feature can help you simplify administration, save time, and reduce the amount of paper you submit to us.

Once activated, your employees will be able to request withdrawals for termination, retirement, and early/preretirement online. All they have to do is log in to their account at myplan.johnhancock.com and follow the instructions.

You or your TPA will also be able to request the following withdrawals through our website:

• Mandatory
• Hardship
• RMDs
• Disability
• Employee rollover money
• Employee voluntary money

Additionally, the online withdrawal feature can support requests for payments to multiple destinations and Roth distributions.²

Please contact your John Hancock representative to learn more about online withdrawals and how to ensure your plan is set up to take full advantage of this feature. 

As of October 2, all administrative paperwork must be submitted through our plan sponsor website. We can no longer accept documents that are emailed to your John Hancock representative. Submitting online helps ensure your plan’s paperwork reaches us quickly and securely and allows you to track your submissions.

To upload a document:

• Log in to the plan sponsor website
• Select “Resources” on the contract homepage
• Choose “Submit a document”
• Add your documents and send to us 

Please reach out to your client account representative if you have any questions.

The end of the year can be hectic, but there’s still time for participants to make progress on their financial goals. Our latest edition of financial well-being quarterly will include:

• Tips for finishing the year strong
• Budgeting ideas for the holidays
• On-demand education about cybersafety

For participants ages 50 and older, we’ll also be promoting our popular Navigating Medicare webinar to help them learn the basics, while those under age 50 will be encouraged to watch our Understanding the stock market series to help build their investment know-how.³

The Q4 financial well-being quarterly will hit your participants’ inboxes between October 24 and November 17. A copy will be available soon on the It’s about time web page.

Watch the replay of our Q3 legislative update to find out. Our ERISA specialists share their insight on:

• SECURE 2.0 and the challenges that remain
• The DOL’s proposed fiduciary regulation
• What the DST Systems retirement plan settlement means for plan fiduciaries like you
• Other legislative and regulatory developments 

Annual participant notices for calendar-year plans (December 31 year-end) must be sent by November 30—just a few weeks away. If you use Notice Manager, please submit your mailing request to Toppan Merrill, our notice provider, by Monday, November 6 to allow enough time for processing. Toppan Merrill generally needs 10 business days to print and mail your notices. Requests received after this date will still be processed, but the mailing may not go out by the deadline.