Episode 002: Your Unseen Liabilities in your 401k Plan
Kirk Conole • April 19, 2021
In this episode, we meet Maribel Larios, an expert in 401k plans and 457s who consistently shows business owners how to reduce their personal liability and costs in their retirement plans.
Kirk and Maribel explore how to help companies and governments get more money out of their retirement plans.
KEY TAKEAWAYS from Your Unseen Liabilities in Your 401k Plan episode:
- 00:46 When is it wise to combine your benefit plans?
- 04:26 Reducing multiple-providers without sacrificing.
- 08:26 Protect yourself by knowing your vendor’s conflicts of interest.
- 11:41 What hides in expense ratios?
- 18:09 For best pricing DO NOT ask your provider for better pricing.
- 20:53 You seldom get what you pay for.
- 21:50 Fiduciaries reduce your personal risk at no additional cost.
- 25:08 What it means if you’ve been paying a “broker deal”.
- 26:35 The TWO question CEOs must get answered…
- 30:16 Get someone else to be the bad guy.
- 33:37 CEO’s personal liability…
- 36:22 Don’t rely on record keepers for advice.

The fewer copper phone lines that exist, the more expensive they become. For decades, Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) lines were the backbone of business communications. They powered fax machines, alarm systems, elevators, fire panels, point-of-sale terminals, and countless other mission-critical devices. Today, they're rapidly disappearing. Yet many organizations continue paying for legacy copper lines they no longer need, or paying dramatically inflated prices for the ones they still do. The result? Thousands of dollars in unnecessary telecom spending, hiding in plain sight.

Many construction firms assume the best way to lower insurance costs is to shop their coverage to as many carriers as possible. In reality, that approach often produces the same result: multiple quotes based on the same flawed assumptions, inflated values, and standard market pricing. Recently, a builder reduced construction insurance premiums by more than $1 million without a traditional shopping exercise. The savings came from restructuring the program before it ever reached underwriting.

For many IT leaders, it starts with what sounds like a routine phone call. Oracle reaches out requesting a "quick discussion" about your Java environment. The conversation is typically positioned as a support check-in, a licensing update, a security discussion, or a general review of your organization's Java usage. On the surface, it appears harmless. In reality, the discussion often serves a much different purpose: determining whether Oracle Java exists anywhere within your environment. Once that is established, the conversation tends to shift quickly. Questions may include: How many employees does your organization have? Who is using Oracle Java? Which systems rely on it? Are contractors or subsidiaries involved? How broadly is Java deployed across the enterprise? At that point, the licensing exposure calculation begins.

Many employers who hire blue-collar workers assume they're receiving every available Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC). The reality is that many companies lose valuable tax credits simply because the process isn't being monitored correctly. One of the easiest ways to verify compliance is through a monthly reporting system. A simple report should clearly show: New hires screened on time Missed forms Late submissions Overall compliance percentage In the example below, the employer achieved: 100% of new hires screened on time 0 missed forms 0 late forms That level of compliance helps ensure tax credits are protected and available when it's time to file. The problem is that many organizations never receive this type of visibility. Without regular reporting, missed screenings and late paperwork can quietly eliminate tax credits that should have been captured. The financial impact can be significant. Even a relatively small number of qualified hires may generate thousands of dollars in tax savings. In many cases, companies discover additional opportunities through an independent audit of their tax credit and operational processes. A thorough forensic review often uncovers overlooked savings, compliance gaps, and process inefficiencies. For many organizations, the combined effect can translate into meaningful cash flow improvements without changing vendors, disrupting operations, or taking on additional risk. The question isn't whether WOTC credits exist for your workforce. The question is whether you're capturing every dollar you're entitled to. When was the last time an outside expert reviewed your process? Being busy is understandable. Leaving money on the table isn't.

For decades, employers have been conditioned to believe that health insurance claims reports are the key to understanding healthcare costs. They're not. In fact, by the time most employers receive a claims report, the information is already historical. It tells you what happened, not what's likely to happen next. That's a problem when healthcare spending continues to rise and employers are being asked to make critical decisions about funding strategies, stop-loss coverage, network selection, and employee benefits.

Most companies accept annual freight increases as unavoidable. FedEx Freight’s LTL general rate increased 5.9% from 2023 to 2024, and then another 5.9% from 2024 to 2025. Over time, these annual General Rate Increases (GRIs) quietly compound into a major expense line that most businesses never fully challenge. But what if you could reverse the impact of those increases?



