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Kossuth County votes to join Iowa’s statewide 457(b) retirement plan; officials cite fee savings for employees
Summary
After a presentation from CoreBridge representatives, the Kossuth County Board voted to join the State of Iowa’s 457(b) Retirement Investors’ Club (RIC) plan, citing dramatically lower investment fees for employees; the board authorized staff to initiate the conversion process.
The Kossuth County Board of Supervisors voted to join the State of Iowa’s 457(b) plan (the Retirement Investors’ Club, or RIC) after a presentation by Sean Monahan of CoreBridge, a plan provider.
Monahan told the board the primary advantage of joining the statewide plan is lower ongoing fees for participating employees. He presented a fee comparison showing target-date fund fees of roughly 0.22% annually under the state plan versus about 1.89% for comparable funds in the county’s current standalone plan. Using his example, he said an employee with $50,000 in an account would pay about $110 in annual fees in the state plan versus $945 under the current county plan, producing large long-term differences due to compounding.
Board members asked how the change would affect employees and the county. Monahan said the board’s approval is required to opt in; existing account balances from the county’s plan could be converted to the state plan (employee consent and plan-specific transfer rules may apply). He said the state plan’s administration covers most ongoing tasks for employers and the county would have a modest one-time startup fee and an annual plan fee to the state (Monahan described a typical $100–$400 one-time startup and an annual fee scaled by county size). He said employees could continue contributing to the county plan until a cut-off date once the conversion is scheduled.
Following the presentation, a motion to join the RIC plan carried on a voice vote. The board asked staff to email CoreBridge or the presenter to initiate the state’s enrollment process and to coordinate timelines for staff and employee education. Monahan said the setup process commonly takes about three months but can vary; he offered webinars and one-on-one support for employees as the conversion proceeds.
Board members directed staff to send an email to monahan or the CoreBridge contact to begin the onboarding steps. The board did not set a firm implementation date at the meeting.
