The 401(k) world if nothing else loves its acronyms. Today, I am excited to welcome Alison Cohn, a Partner and attorney with Ferenczy Benefits Law Center to the podcast! Alison brings her quick wit and enthusiasm to a conversation around PEPs, MEPs, and SEPs which can generally be confusing or just plan dull. With new regulations coming online, understanding the differences, pros and cons and decision points will be important as we head into 2021. Also, I loved her analogy involving ships and barnacles. I will definitely be stealing that one in the future. 

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That’s it, I hope you enjoy my conversation with Alison!

 

Guest Bio

Alison J. Cohen, J.D., APA, APR is a Partner with Ferenczy Benefits Law Center in Atlanta, Georgia.  Alison advises clients on many issues related to qualified retirement plans, including design, mergers and acquisitions, audits, and operational issues.   Alison commonly works with clients that have operational issues to guide them through the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and/or Department of Labor (DOL) corrective programs, prepare corrective filings, and prepare and support clients through audits conducted by the IRS and/or DOL.

 

Alison is a member of the Georgia and California State Bars.  Prior to joining Ferenczy Benefits Law Center, Alison worked at a large bundled service provider for nearly 16 years as an Associate Vice President, Compliance Manager and Regulatory Liaison.  As part of her responsibilities there, Alison served as a national speaker on audit and correction issues.  She served on the Employee Plans Subcommittee of the IRS Advisory Committee on Tax-Exempt and Governmental Entities (ACT).  Alison has been actively involved with the National Institute of Pension Administration (NIPA) serving as a speaker, author, and developer/teacher, and received NIPA’s Excellence in Education Award in 2019.  The award recognizes outstanding educators within the national membership who have made significant contributions and improvements to NIPA’s educational programs.  She holds designations as an Accredited Pension Administrator (APA) and Accredited Pension Representative (APR) from NIPA.  Alison is also the current President of the Pension Education Council of Atlanta.  In 2019, Alison assumed co-authorship of “ERISA: A Comprehensive Guide,” along with Ms. Ilene H. Ferenczy.

 

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