When the plan needs more than a routine answer.
Business owners don't usually start by asking for a 3(16). They start with a question that's gone unanswered too many times, a notice they don't understand, or advice that never actually got carried out. The plan is sitting on their desk, and they need someone who will actually own it.
You've asked the same question three times and gotten three different answers
The advisor, payroll company, recordkeeper, and administrator each have a piece of the plan. None of them will own the whole answer.
An IRS or DOL notice showed up and no one can tell you what it actually means
Something was missed — a filing, a deadline, a correction — and you found out about it after the fact, not before.
Your CPA hinted the plan could be doing more, and then nothing happened
The plan is technically compliant but quietly leaving tax savings, owner benefit, or key-employee reward on the table.
Every answer starts with "it depends" and never actually finishes
Your current team is fine for routine paperwork but stalls the moment the plan gets complicated. That's exactly where Sandra's judgment starts to matter.
The plan was built for five employees. You have forty now.
What worked at a smaller size doesn't fit your current ownership, payroll, or compensation structure — and no one has updated it to match.
You got a good recommendation a year ago. It's still sitting in an email.
A better answer only matters if someone actually carries it out. Sandra's guidance comes paired with a team built to implement it, not just suggest it.
The expert other experts call, backed by a team that can implement.
President Emeritus, Turner Pension Solutions
Leader of ERISA Advisory Services, LLC
Sandra R. Turner has spent decades working with qualified retirement plans for closely held businesses. Her experience spans advanced plan design, complex administration, compliance problems, owner-focused tax strategy, and the difficult questions that arise when a plan no longer fits neatly inside a standard answer.
That is why ERISA Advisory Services should not feel like a generic outsourced administration shop. It is a 3(16) fiduciary services company built around senior judgment. Sandra helps determine what the plan needs. Her team helps carry the responsibility and implement the work.
For the right existing plan, the value is not simply that something comes off the owner’s plate. The value is that the plan is placed under a more capable structure: expert review, delegated fiduciary responsibility, and practical follow-through working together.
What actually changes once Sandra's team takes the plan over.
The plan depends too much on the owner and scattered providers
- You are copied on everything but rarely get a clear answer.
- Issues bounce between providers until you have to push them forward.
- Administrative responsibility and liability remain too close to the employer.
- The plan may not be taking full advantage of tax, owner, or key-employee opportunities.
A Sandra-led 3(16) team takes responsibility and executes
- Defined 3(16) responsibilities move to a team built to carry them.
- The owner has fewer loose ends to chase and fewer surprises to worry about.
- Problems are addressed with Sandra-level judgment instead of generic answers.
- Advice is paired with implementation, so better ideas have a path to get done.
The goal is simple: move much of the plan-management burden and administrative fiduciary responsibility to a team that can pair senior judgment with practical execution.
A 3(16) fiduciary role moves responsibility from advice to ownership.
A consultant can point out a problem. A vendor can process routine work. A 3(16) fiduciary engagement goes further: the provider is formally appointed to take on defined administrative fiduciary responsibilities for the plan. The sponsor still has to prudently choose and monitor the provider, but the employer is no longer trying to carry the plan alone.
It is a respected fiduciary appointment.
3(16) is not a marketing phrase. It is the ERISA role for plan administration. When delegated properly, it gives the plan a named fiduciary team responsible for defined administrative duties.
It transfers much, not all, of the burden.
The employer still chooses and monitors the provider. But much of the day-to-day administrative responsibility, worry, and liability can shift to the 3(16) team.
It pairs expertise with implementation.
Sandra can help identify a better path. The team helps manage the process so the answer does not sit in a memo or die between providers.
It lets the plan work harder.
The service is not just about taking tasks away. It is about managing the plan with the experience needed to improve tax efficiency, owner outcomes, and employee reward where the facts support it.
ERISA Advisory Services is a Sandra-led 3(16) fiduciary team for existing plans that need better answers, less sponsor exposure, and a team capable of turning expert guidance into action.
This is for existing plans that need stronger ownership.
The right client is not merely looking for a cheaper provider. They are looking for a 3(16) fiduciary team that can take on responsibility, bring senior judgment, and help the plan accomplish more.
Good reasons to reach out
- You want a formal 3(16) team to take on much of the plan-management burden.
- You are concerned the plan is creating risk you do not fully understand.
- Your current team is not giving clear, practical, or creative answers.
- You want to know whether the plan can do more for owners, key people, or favorite employees.
- You want to reduce taxes through better retirement-plan strategy, where appropriate.
- A review, correction, audit, payroll issue, or provider problem has exposed weaknesses.
Probably not the right fit
- You only want the cheapest startup 401(k).
- You are looking for investment management rather than plan-management help.
- You want a generic bundled platform with no senior technical review.
- You are unwilling to share the facts needed to evaluate the plan.
- You want a promise that no responsibility of any kind remains with the employer.
Tell us what is not working with the plan.
The first conversation should be practical. What is the plan supposed to be doing for the business? What is not working now? Where is the risk, stress, or missed opportunity showing up? And would a Sandra-led 3(16) team be the right way to carry the plan forward?
ERISA Advisory Services is for existing plans that need more than another generic answer. Tell us what prompted the concern, what you wish the plan were doing better, and where you need delegated responsibility, clearer ownership, senior judgment, or stronger implementation.
- Company
- ERISA Advisory Services, LLC
- Service lane
- Sandra-led 3(16) fiduciary services for existing retirement plans
- Led by
- Sandra R. Turner, supported by a retirement-plan team built for implementation
- Best starting point
- What is not working now, what you want the plan to accomplish, and who is involved today