Why is Having In-House Actuaries Such an Advantage?
AUTHOR
Henry DeSpain | APA, QPA, ERPA, Partner | With over 30 years in the retirement plan industry, Henry has been a driving force in our company growth and culture. Since joining the firm in 1994, he has specialized in defined benefit plan services, earning long-standing client relationships and recognition as a trusted consultant and speaker for financial advisors.
Why an In-House Actuary Makes a Real Difference for Your Retirement Plan
If you sponsor a defined benefit or cash balance plan, you already know that these plans are different from a 401(k). They come with more moving parts, more regulatory requirements, and more opportunity for meaningful tax savings. What you may not think about often is the expertise working behind the scenes to keep everything on track.
Henry DeSpain, Partner at Nydia Retirement Solutions, recently sat down to talk through one of the things that sets Nydia apart: having actuaries on staff, in-house, available every day.
What an Actuary Does for a Defined Benefit or Cash Balance Plan
Defined benefit plans and cash balance plans require actuarial involvement at every stage. An actuary must certify the contribution calculations, and they must complete and sign the Schedule SB, a required attachment to the Form 5500 annual filing submitted to the IRS.
These are not optional steps. The Schedule SB is a technical document that captures the funded status of the plan, key demographic and financial assumptions, and the certified determination of contribution requirements. No actuary signature means no compliant filing.
Learn more about how defined benefit and cash balance plans work on our Cash Balance and Defined Benefit Plans page.
The In-House Advantage: Speed, Access, and Depth of Knowledge
Faster Answers When Timing Matters
For business owners, contribution decisions often come with a deadline or a planning window that closes quickly. Henry describes the difference directly:
“With small to mid-sized employers, they always come to us and say, I think I need to make a contribution, or I want to make this level of contribution. Is it possible? Having an in-house actuary allows us to give a much quicker response than if we had a contract actuary.”
With a contract actuary, availability is limited. They typically commit to a firm one or two days per week and carry obligations to multiple clients. That means a question that comes in on Monday might not get an answer until Wednesday or Thursday at the earliest.
When your actuary sits down the hall, that same question gets answered the same day.
A Storehouse of Technical Knowledge
The speed advantage is real, but Henry points to something else he sees as equally valuable:
“The best thing about having an actuary in-house is just the storehouse of knowledge that they have. Because of their technical prowess and because of what they do, they know a lot about the code. They know a lot about the rules that go into retirement plans.”
This depth of knowledge shows up most clearly in complex consulting situations. When a business owner calls with a nuanced question, such as wanting to set up a plan for one of three related companies, the implications can be significant. Which employees need to be included? Can anyone be excluded? What will the costs look like?
Having an actuary at the table means Nydia’s consultants can work through those answers in real time, before a plan is ever designed or documents are signed.
How In-House Actuarial Support Shapes the Consulting Experience
Nydia offers a full spectrum of plan types, from 401(k) profit sharing plans to combination DB/DC structures. The more complex the plan design, the more critical the actuarial relationship becomes.
Henry describes what that looks like in practice:
“Being able to bounce that stuff off of our in-house actuary gives us a lot more power consulting-wise, and the ability to say: here’s what it’s going to look like, these are going to be the costs, this is who you’re going to have to include, and this is who you can exclude.”
This is the kind of clarity that business owners and their advisors need when weighing whether a defined benefit or cash balance plan makes sense. Vague estimates are not enough. Concrete, certified numbers built by someone who knows the tax code inside and out are what move decisions forward.
What This Means for Plan Sponsors, Advisors, and CPAs
For plan sponsors, in-house actuarial access means fewer delays, faster decisions, and a consulting team that can think through your situation comprehensively.
For financial advisors and CPAs who work with business owners, it means your clients get answers when they need them. If a business owner wants to model a contribution scenario before year-end, waiting on a contracted actuary to become available is not an option. Nydia’s team is here.
Explore our Advisor Resources and CPA Resources to see how we support the professionals who work alongside us.
Ready to See What a Well-Supported Plan Looks Like?
If you have questions about defined benefit or cash balance plan administration, actuarial requirements, or whether Nydia is the right TPA partner for your situation, we would love to connect.
Schedule a consultation with our team and find out what it feels like to have the right experts in your corner.
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