Welcome to the Employer Help Center

New Articles

  1. How do I track participant beneficiary elections?

    Beneficiary designations are updated by participants through the Sentinel website. During the Online Enrollment Steps, a participant will be prompted and required to elect their beneficiary. In addition, a participant may change their election onlin...
  2. How does vesting work?

    Sentinel will track vesting for all your participants according to the provisions of your Plan Document. Plan participant hours will be imported into our system each payroll period using the contribution payroll file. Sentinel’s recordkeeping system...
  3. Can participants access the plan using their phones?

    Yes. When participants download the mobile app, they can access their retirement account balances whenever and wherever they choose, quickly and easily. Participants can check their balances, see transaction activity, change investment elections, re...
  4. How do participants make investment changes?

    All investment election changes must be completed by the participant online or verbally by calling the Sentinel Service Center and speaking with a representative. If you require or would like confirmation of these types of requests, Sentinel can pro...
  5. How do I submit participant contributions and/or loan payments to the plan?

    Your payroll submission file will be uploaded each payroll period to Sentinel. The file will include your plan participant deferral contributions, any applicable loan repayments and employer contributions (if deposited each payroll period). In addit...
  6. How do I process a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD)?

    Under SECURE 2.0, effective as of January 1, 2023, any participant that was not previously subject to RMDs who has attained age 73 and is terminated or is considered a 5% owner is required to take a minimum distribution each year. A 5% owner is defi...
  7. Employee Online Account Access Assistance

    In order for our Service Center to be able to assist with account access and/or to reset login credentials, participants will be required to have specific pieces of information that must be found within our systems here at Sentinel. There are a few...
  8. Year End Census Review

    Shortly after your final payroll of a plan year is submitted, Sentinel will prepare a census template which acts as a review of your participant demographics for the plan year. The amount of data contained in this census file will vary based on the ...
  9. What is an Affiliated Service Groups (Code Section 414(m))?

    An Affiliated Service Group (ASG) consists of two or more organizations that have a service relationship and, in some cases, an ownership relationship. ASG members are generally in fields of service organizations (health, law, engineering, architect...
  10. What am I supposed to give a new employee regarding the retirement plan?

    Please provide new employee with two items:  Retirement Plan Education Kit - This Kit includes retirement planning education, information on how to log in and enroll, and also includes all of the legally required plan notices. Summary Plan Descri...