Make the Wise Choice
The Illinois Public Pension Fund Association (IPPFA) is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1985 that is responsible for providing continuing education to public pension fund trustees. In 1998, members of IPPFA were concerned about the high cost vendors who offer supplemental savings plans to public sector employees.
After surveying the deferred compensation plans in their member jurisdictions, the IPPFA came to the conclusion that generally the plans:
- Provided no fiduciary protection to employers
- Were expensive
- Were annuities
- Contained expensive Contingent Deferred Sales Charges
- Lacked adequate disclosure of fees (e.g. “wrap” and administrative fees)
- Provided little field service to participants
- Were a “hodgepodge” of retail investments
- Did not offer an open architecture option
The result: The IPPFA launched The Wise Choice for Educators® Plan
IPPFA’s The Wise Choice for Educators® 403(b)/457(b) plan was designed to be a supplemental savings program which incorporated Best Practice plan design and pricing to help teachers, administrators and their staffs. The IPPFA pooled together more than 200 units of government to help reduce the investment related fees that participants pay. In today’s environment with the your pension under attack, it is more important than ever that your supplemental savings plan not rob you of income in retirement.
By pooling the buying power of the IPPFA member communities, the participants are able to have a plan at a potentially lower cost and possibly better plan features than individual school districts would be able to negotiate on their own.
IPPFA believes no employee should have less money at retirement just because they work for a school or municipality that does not have the buying power to negotiate lower prices.