What is a recordkeeper?

A recordkeeper is the administrator for a retirement savings plan. 
Aspire Financial Services, LLC. is the recordkeeper for the CTA 403(b) Retirement Savings Plan. 

Here's what a recordkeeper does for you:

• Tracking Contributions and Investments: They keep track of all the money you put into your retirement account (contributions), as well as any money you take out (like for loans or withdrawals). They also monitor how your money is growing based on the investments you've chosen.
  
  
• Maintaining Individual Accounts: Just like your classroom roster, the recordkeeper maintains a list of all participants in the plan, making sure each account is accurate, reflecting each person's contributions, earnings from investments, and any distributions.
  
  
• Ensuring Regulatory Compliance: They make sure the plan follows all the rules set by entities like the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Department of Labor. This can be thought of as ensuring your retirement plan meets all the grading criteria or standards.
  
  
• Processing Transactions and Recordkeeping: When you want to change how much you contribute, borrow money, or make changes to your investment choices, the recordkeeper processes these changes and keeps track of them, like a gradebook for your retirement plan.
  
  
• Communication: They're responsible for keeping you informed about your account, much like how you would update students and parents on academic progress. This might include sending you statements, updating a website where you can check your account, or answering your questions over the phone.
  
  
• Plan Reporting and Documentation: They provide reports and documents about the overall plan to the organization offering the plan (the "plan sponsor"), in the same way that a school might need to provide reports and documentation to a district or board.