GlacierWealth · Journal
Plain writing on plans, fees, and filings.
Short entries for owners who sponsor a retirement plan and would like to understand what their own filing says. No sales copy, no jargon left undefined.
20 August 2026 · 4 min read
Why owner-led plans in the Flathead get neglected
It is rarely indifference. It is that the plan was installed once, by someone who has not been back, and nobody in the building was ever given a reason to look.
19 August 2026 · 5 min read
Who is really paying your plan's fees
If no invoice ever crosses your desk, the plan's costs are not free. They are coming out of participant accounts — and yours is usually the largest.
18 August 2026 · 4 min read
What a brokerage window actually means for your plan
Code 2R tells you a self-directed brokerage window is available. It does not tell you whether anyone is using it, or whether the preset menu is still doing the work.
17 August 2026 · 5 min read
Read your own Form 5500 in ten minutes
You do not need a consultant to find the three entries that matter most on your plan's annual filing. You need ten minutes and the right lines.
Further reading
- How to read your Form 5500 in seven steps
The numbered walkthrough: where the filing lives, which lines to check, and in what order.
- What your own Form 5500 reveals
The public filing every plan makes, and the three entries worth your fifteen minutes.
- What code 2R means
The one-character entry that decides whether plan money can be managed outside the preset fund menu.
- Who really pays your plan's fees
Indirect compensation, revenue sharing, and why the owner's account usually absorbs the largest share.
- The plan review, described plainly
What an independent read of your plan covers, what it costs, and what you get back.