As the year winds down, Melissa Terito and Kasey Melancon close out another season of The Sentinel Show with an important conversation on a topic that’s often overshadowed - participant education.

In this episode, Melissa and Kasey dive into why it’s essential for employers to actively educate their employees about the retirement plan benefits they offer. They discuss how understanding plan provisions like eligibility, vesting, loans, and hardships can improve retention, reduce frustration, and help employees truly see the value of their total compensation package.

From tips on creating easy-to-understand one-pagers to incorporating retirement education into annual open enrollment meetings, this episode offers practical advice for plan sponsors looking to make a lasting impact.

Plus, Melissa and Kasey reflect on the close of Season 6,share some holiday laughs, and hint at exciting news coming soon from the Sentinel team.

Tune in for:
💡Why retirement plan education matters now more than ever

🗣️How to communicate plan benefits effectively

🤝The connection between participant understanding and employee retention

📈 A look ahead to "selling season" and what’s next for The Sentinel Show

🎧 Listen in, take notes, and get ready for another year of helping participants feel empowered about their financial futures.

Have any questions about this episode’s topic? Let us know! Visit our website for more information: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sentinel Pension (sp-tpa.com)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Music by Adam Vitovsky

Just in time for Halloween, Melissa Terito and Kasey Melancon share some spine-tingling tales from the world of retirement plans! 👻

In this episode, the hosts dive into two real-life “horror stories” that will make any plan sponsor’s skin crawl—from misplaced safe harbor contributions and unfiled 5500s to Department of Labor audits and $120,000 in missing deferrals. Melissa and Kasey break down what went wrong,how they fixed it, and the lessons learned to help others avoid similar nightmares.

Whether you’re a plan sponsor, advisor, or just love a goodcompliance thriller, this episode will leave you grateful for a smooth audit and a well-run plan.

Tune in for:

• Red flags in open MEPs and plan administration
• What happens when contributions go to the wrong source
• Real-world insights into VCP and DOL audit resolutions
• Why "fixing" is sometimes scarier than the original mistake

Happy Halloween — and may your plan never haunt you! 🎃

Have any questions about this episode’s topic? Let us know! Visit our website for more information: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sentinel Pension (sp-tpa.com)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Music by Adam Vitovsky

In this episode of The Sentinel Show, hosts Melissa Terito and Kasey Melancon unpack one of the most significant upcoming changes from the SECURE 2.0 Act — the mandatory Roth catch-up requirement that applies to certain higher-income participants beginning January 1, 2026.

They break down who’s affected, what plan sponsors and payroll providers need to do to stay compliant, and how HR teams can prepare now. From understanding the $145,000 (indexed) FICA wage threshold to coordinating Roth feature updates and avoiding payroll missteps, Melissa and Kasey make a complex rule easy to follow.

They also discuss the IRS’s final regulations, the two-year transition period ending December 31, 2025, and what "good-faith compliance” means for plan operations in the first year.

Whether you manage retirement plans, oversee payroll, or just want to stay ahead of evolving regulations, this episode offers practical insights to help you navigate Roth catch-ups with confidence and clarity.

Have any questions about this episode’s topic? Let us know!

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Music by Adam Vitovsky

It’s officially 401(k) “selling season,” and Melissa Teritoand Kasey Melancon are diving into the strategies business owners can still use—even if key deadlines have already passed. They unpack what happens when employers miss the October 1st cutoff for establishing a safe harbor 401(k),explore how prior-year testing can provide flexibility for small business owners, and explain why plan design often looks different for smaller companies with only a handful of employees.

The conversation also touches on profit-sharing opportunities, effective dates, and the practical differences between S corporations and other entity types. Melissa and Kasey break down the pros and cons of pushing a plan through before year-end versus waiting until the newyear, and they highlight solutions—like cash balance plans and profit-sharing-only plans—that can still deliver meaningful tax and retirement benefits.

If you’re a business owner who’s procrastinated on yourretirement plan setup, this episode is full of insights to help you understand your options and avoid missing out.

Have any questions about this episode’s topic? Let us know!Visit our website for more information: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sentinel Pension (sp-tpa.com)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Music by Adam Vitovsky

Welcome back to The Sentinel Show! Today, Melissa and Kasey boldly go where this podcast hasn’t gone before: talking about investments. Specifically, we go over how cryptocurrency investments within 401(k) plans work and the risks involved when considering whether to invest in cryptocurrency, whether inside or outside of the plan itself. We aren’t investment advisors, but we are TPAs, so listen along to find out our thoughts and recommendationsfor investments within and outside of retirement plans!  

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Visit our website for more information: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sentinel Pension (sp-tpa.com)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Music by Adam Vitovsky

Welcome back to The Sentinel Show! Today, Melissa and Kasey tackle an unusual but important topic: pairing SEPs (Simplified Employee Pensions) with Cash Balance Plans.

This question led to a deep dive into how these two types ofretirement plans can (and sometimes can’t) work together. Can you retroactively add a cash balance plan to a SEP? What’s the IRS rule about Form 5305? Why does the 31% combined plan limit matter? And ultimately—why might a 401(k) with a cash balance plan offer more flexibility and higher long-term savings potential than a SEP with one?

Melissa and Kasey walk through the rules, limits, andreal-life scenarios to highlight the pros, cons, and tax advantages that come with these different plan combinations.

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Music by Adam Vitovsky

Welcome back to The Sentinel Show! We have a new episode for you to start your week off right. Today, Melissa and Kasey break down another acronym: RMDs, or Required Minimum Distributions. Once someone reaches a certain age, they have to take money out of their 401(k) plan, but there are many rules surrounding these distributions. How old do you have to be before these distributions are required? What amount is required? Who is responsible for these RMDs? What are best practices for participants? Listen along to get our answers to these questions and much more!  

Have any questions about this episode’s topic? Let us know!
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Music by Adam Vitovsky

Welcome back to The Sentinel Show! We have a new name and the same great content! We hope y’all have had a great summer break! This week, Kasey and Melissa catch us up on what they’ve been up to, and they also go over what happens when one business buys or sells another and how that impacts the company’s retirement plans. Can participants who have had their assets merged into another plan take a distribution or not? How does the type of business transaction impact your options and what part does the purchase agreement play in all this? Listen along to hear our answers to these questions and much more!

Have any questions about this episode’s topic? Let us know!
Visit our website for more information: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sentinel Pension (sp-tpa.com)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Note from the editor: We had a few technical difficulties this episode, so we apologize for the quality change, but we anticipate that this will be fixed for future episodes!

Music by Adam Vitovsky

Welcome back to the Sentinel Pension Show! On our final episode before we take a break for the summer, Kasey and Melissa are breaking down a topic that is widely covered in the TPA world: plans that go off the rails. Our resident plan fixers break down the governing bodies that review these plans, what they’re looking for when they come to audit plans, the safe harbor standard for deposit submissions, the types of corrections systems, and so much more! We hope y’all have a great summer and will come back to learn more with us next season!

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Music by Adam Vitovsky

Welcome back to the Sentinel Pension Show! We have someexciting news – next season of the Sentinel Pension Show will be coming to you from a new office! Today’s episode talks about an important topic: while you may think there are cookie cutter retirement plans, that’s most likely not the case. We talk about potential mistakes that can befall a retirement plan and how mistakes in the plan can snowball into more difficult problems. To learn more about this, continue listening to this great episode!    

Have any questions about this episode’s topic? Let us know!
Visit our website for more information: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sentinel Pension (sp-tpa.com)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Music by Adam Vitovsky