Does a 401(k) plan need a retirement plan committee?
Last updated October 2, 2026
No law requires a committee, but a formally established retirement plan committee is the recognized best practice — it names who holds fiduciary authority, creates a documented decision process, and shields employees who aren't members from inadvertent fiduciary status.
Nothing in ERISA says "form a committee." But without one, fiduciary authority defaults ambiguously to the employer — in practice, to whoever touches the plan, from the CFO to an HR generalist, each carrying personal exposure they may not know about.
A formal committee cures that:
- The board or company resolution names the committee as plan fiduciary, concentrating (and containing) the risk
- A charter defines authority, membership, and procedures
- Regular meetings with minutes generate the documented process the prudent-expert standard demands
For small employers a committee can be two or three people. Scale matters less than formality: appointment in writing, duties acknowledged, meetings held, decisions recorded.
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