5 Free Resources Every Retirement Plan Adviser Should Be Using - Top 5 Free Resources

Sep 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jake

A curated set of five free online tools designed to help retirement plan advisers build and manage a successful, compliant 401(k) practice. The resources cover public 5500 plan data from the Department of Labor, BrightScope’s BrightScope Rating for prospecting and identifying plan shortfalls, and a 401khelpcenter news hub for trends, fiduciary issues, and legislative updates. It also includes Deloitte’s 401(k) benchmarking survey and fi360 compliance guidance with downloadable sample documents and handbooks, plus an additional best-practices site.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryForms

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time3 min

AccessFree to download

Top 5 Free Resources

Prospecting Tool

News and Trends

Compliance Guidance and Documents

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5 FREE RESOURCES Every Retirement Plan Adviser Should Be Using “Building and managing a successful and compliant 401k practice takes a considerable amount of time, talent, effort, and resources . The following five resources are some of my absolute favorite free tools available online to help you maximize your efforts .” SHARON PIVIROTTO FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER @401KEXPERTS TOP 5 FREE RESOURCES The Department of Labor’s Public 5500 Data Brightscope [401khelpcenter.com](401khelpcenter.com) Deloitte’s Annual 401(k) Benchmarking Survey fi360’s Resources DOL 5500 Data 1 Prospecting Tool Prospecting is never easy; but you can increase your odds of successfully getting in the door or moving the conversation along if you know some basic plan information that can be found on the company’s annual 5500 tax form. While there are many paid data sources you could turn to, I recommend going right to the source and visiting [http://www.efast.dol.gov](http://www.efast.dol.gov) and pulling the most recent public data for FREE. Image source: [efast.dol.gov](efast.dol.gov) Brightscope 2 Prospecting Tool Another way to open doors and start conversations with prospects, is togo online to [brightscope.com](brightscope.com) and print the “BrightScope Rating” for a particular company. This FREE rating tool is a great way to identify possible shortfalls in a plan that would allow you to provide needed services. Image source: [Brightscope.com](Brightscope.com) [401khelpcenter.com](401khelpcenter.com) 3 News and Trends I’ve spent many, many hours researching specific topics relating to qualified plans online and can tell you that the website [401khelpcenter.com](401khelpcenter.com) is my main source for information. This website has done all of the work of finding and consolidating 401k articles. They also aggregate the latest published material on 401k trends, fiduciary issues, legislative action, court cases, opinion, rule changes, insights, surveys, studies, commentary and more and deliver a summary to your inbox weekly—for FREE! If you want to keep abreast of the latest developments—I’d highly recommend this free resource. Deloitte’s 401(k) 4 Benchmarking Survey Market Intelligence Now in the twelfth year of publishing this survey, Deloitte does a phenomenal job of providing research on industry trends in the 401(k) space, allowing you to easily identify how your clients and prospects stack up. Plan sponsors also appreciate the perspective provided in this FREE report. Get a free copy on Deloitte’s website. Image source: [deloitte.com](deloitte.com) fi360’s Resources 5 Compliance Guidance and Documents Without a doubt, if you’re looking for compliance documents, [fi360.com](fi360.com)[ ](fi360.com)provides some of the best FREE downloadable documents, including the Prudent Practices handbook series, sample bylaws, sample meeting minutes, sample fiduciary acknowledgement letter, sample Investment Policy Statement, and more. (Find them on their Resource Page or run a quick Google search with the document name you’re looking for followed by the term “fi360” and you’ll likely pull up a template or two you can use!) With extensive education, certification, software, and practice management offerings, fi360 is a one-stop shop equipped to provide individuals and organizations with the training, tools, and resources necessary to become more successful. Get More FREE Resources Get MORE resources, strategies & best practices for growing and protecting your 401k business at: [http://www.401kbestpractices.com](http://www.401kbestpractices.com) SHARE THIS:

FAQs

What are the five free resources recommended for 401(k) advisers?

The document recommends DOL Public 5500 data, BrightScope’s BrightScope Rating, 401khelpcenter.com, Deloitte’s Annual 401(k) Benchmarking Survey, and fi360’s free compliance guidance and document templates.

How can DOL 5500 data help advisers prospect?

Advisers can use plan information from the company’s annual 5500 tax form by pulling the most recent public data from the Department of Labor’s eFAST site.

What kind of compliance materials does fi360 provide for free?

fi360 provides free downloadable documents such as the Prudent Practices handbook series, sample bylaws, sample meeting minutes, fiduciary acknowledgement letters, sample Investment Policy Statement, and other templates on its resource page.

Sep 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jake