GlacierWealth · Owner's guide
How to read your Form 5500.
You do not need to be a retirement-plan attorney to read your own filing. Most small-business owners only need to check a handful of lines. This walkthrough shows you where they are and what they mean.
- 1
Find your plan's most recent filing
Use the Department of Labor's EFAST2 search. Enter your company or plan name, download the PDF, and note the plan year and filing type at the top of the first page.
- 2
Confirm the filing type
A full Form 5500 includes Schedule C provider compensation detail. A Form 5500-SF omits Schedule C, so indirect fees and revenue sharing are harder to see from the public record alone.
- 3
Check the named fiduciary
Look for the signature block and the plan administrator or fiduciary line. In most small companies, the owner is the named fiduciary under ERISA §402(a).
- 4
Look for feature code 2R
On a full Form 5500, line 8a lists plan characteristic codes. On Form 5500-SF, the same codes appear on line 9a. 2R means a self-directed brokerage window is available.
- 5
Review Schedule C on full filings
Schedule C reports direct and indirect compensation paid to recordkeepers, brokers, advisers, and other providers. Compare the amounts to the 408(b)(2) disclosure you received as plan sponsor.
- 6
Trace who pays the fees
If the company pays from operating cash, the fee is a deductible business expense. If participants pay, the amount is deducted proportionally from participant accounts, which usually reduces the owner's balance the most.
- 7
Request a review if anything does not match
Mismatches between the 408(b)(2) disclosure, the Form 5500, and your invoice are worth a second look. GlacierWealth reviews the filing against your documents and answers within two business days.
Want a second set of eyes? GlacierWealth reviews Form 5500-SF filings for owner-led companies of 10–50 with $1–5M in plan assets.
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Further reading
- 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.
- What ERISA §402(a) makes you responsible for
The prudent expert standard, the duty to monitor providers, and the personal liability that does not stop at the corporate form.
- Plan-owner glossary
Twenty-three terms an owner meets in a filing, defined in plain English: 2R, Schedule C, 408(b)(2), revenue sharing, §3(38).