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Guideline

Guideline

Overview

What is Guideline?

Guideline headquartered in San Mateo offers a cloud-based 401k management software for businesses priced on a per employee basis.

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

Guideline serves as a valuable retirement program solution for businesses looking to offer comprehensive benefits to their full-time …
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Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Pricing

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What is Guideline?

Guideline headquartered in San Mateo offers a cloud-based 401k management software for businesses priced on a per employee basis.

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://www.guideline.com/pricing

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Alternatives Pricing

What is Human Interest?

Human Interest headquartered in San Francisco offers their cloud-based 401k administation platform for employers featuring flexible plan design and a dedicated account manager.

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Product Details

What is Guideline?

Guideline offers aims to offer a simple, affordable way to save for retirement, by providing plans presented as low cost and highly automated. This helps companies to offer a valuable benefit, and it helps companies' people to invest in their financial future with confidence.



Guideline Features

401(k) Features

  • Supported: Administration and Recordkeeping
  • Supported: Payroll Integration
  • Supported: Compliance Maintenance
  • Supported: Plan Flexibility
  • Supported: Filings and Disclosures
  • Supported: Ease of Enrollment

Guideline Technical Details

Deployment TypesSoftware as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

Guideline headquartered in San Mateo offers a cloud-based 401k management software for businesses priced on a per employee basis.

Human Interest, Betterment, and ForUsAll are common alternatives for Guideline.

Reviewers rate Ease of Enrollment highest, with a score of 7.

The most common users of Guideline are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(24)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

Guideline serves as a valuable retirement program solution for businesses looking to offer comprehensive benefits to their full-time employees. Users appreciate the range of low-cost index ETF funds available through Guideline for their 401K options, providing a diverse range of investment opportunities. The super easy-to-use interface has been specifically mentioned by users, making it simple and efficient for employees to enroll and manage their retirement savings. The real-time calculation of contribution limits is also highly valued, providing peace of mind when making changes to contributions. Guideline's seamless integration with Gusto payroll further enhances its convenience, streamlining the administrative process for employers. The continuous safe harbor analysis offered by Guideline is also appreciated by administrators, helping them meet compliance requirements effortlessly. With Guideline as the company-wide 401K platform, businesses can eliminate the manual aspects of maintaining and processing employee retirement contributions, freeing up time for the executive team. Additionally, Guideline's quarterly reports allow users to track the progress of their portfolio and fine-tune their long-term financial strategy. The responsive support team provides timely assistance through email and phone, ensuring a seamless experience for customers. Overall, Guideline's user-friendly features, cost-effectiveness, and comprehensive services make it an efficient tool for businesses of all sizes.

Low-cost investment options: Several users have mentioned that Guideline offers low-cost investment options, which has been a positive aspect for them. They appreciate the affordability of the platform and feel that it allows them to invest their money without incurring high fees or expenses.

Excellent customer support: Reviewers have consistently praised Guideline's customer support, noting their commitment to helping users. The prompt and helpful assistance provided by the support team has contributed to a positive experience for many customers.

Easy-to-use interface: Many users have found Guideline's software to be easy to use and navigate. They appreciate its intuitive design, visually appealing interface, and user-friendly features. The seamless integration with payroll vendors also adds convenience for users.

Terrible Customer Service and Lack of Investment Options: Users have expressed dissatisfaction with Guideline's customer service, noting a lack of investment options. Some users have stated that the customer service provided by Guideline has been subpar, while others have mentioned that there are limited investment options available.

Lack of Integration and Synchronization Frequency: Some users have found the integration and synchronization feature of Guideline to be lacking in terms of frequency. They feel that the synchronization only occurring once per day is not sufficient and suggest that it should be more frequent for real-time updates.

Limited Customization and Absence of Mobile App: The simplicity of Guideline has been criticized by some users who feel it lacks customization options, which may be problematic for businesses with more sophisticated plans. Additionally, the absence of a mobile app for tracking progress on devices like phones and iPads has been seen as a drawback by users who believe having this feature would enhance ease of use.

Based on user reviews, here are the most common recommendations for Guideline:

  1. Guideline is highly recommended for small nonprofits as a good solution for retirement benefits. Users have found it to be an efficient and cost-effective option.

  2. Businesses that use Gusto are advised to consider Guideline for their 401(k) plan administration. Users have found it to be a compatible and seamless integration with Gusto.

  3. Many users recommend Guideline for businesses seeking easy 401(k) plan administration. They appreciate its user-friendly interface and hassle-free management of retirement benefits.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-11 of 11)
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Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Guideline helps us to easily administrate our 401(k).
It is not easy to have visibility on the total retirement savings that each individual has accumulated and in total.

It also helps to understand the amount contributed before and after taxes.
This is specially helpful to understand if an emergency withdrawal would be taxed or not taxed.

For example, at the start of the year, the software projects the total contributed per year before and after taxes.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
The guideline is used for our 401k service for all our employees and all departments. It addresses the benefits package offered to employees as to their retirement. Some of the partners also use Guideline, making it a fairly comprehensive service. One problem every business faces is a retirement (if offered) program for their full-time employees.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Guideline is administrating our company 401k plans. It's a fully automated system, connected to our payroll provider and allows my team to invest in their retirement, and allows my executive team to focus on other things besides plan administration. We're in an excellent position of "let it ride" where Guideline handles automated withdrawls, corporate matching, plan selection for our entire team.
Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Guideline was mainly used because it connected with the company's prior payroll vendor Gusto. All employees at the company used Guideline for 401(k) services. We were looking to expand our benefits as a small employer at the time, and Guideline matched well at the time for the number of employees that we had.
November 10, 2021

Jordan's Guideline Review

Jordan Wilhelmi | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Guideline for our company-wide 401k platform. I go on to my account every paycheck and I love the simple to read interface to see how my retirement savings are doing. It is also seamless to adjust risk and strategy at the click of a button. The quarterly reports are a great way to track progress of my portfolio and fine tune my long-term financial strategy.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Fantastic 401K option for SMB Guideline has been a great choice for our small but fast growing software company. Our employees are savvy and appreciate the range of low costs index/ETF funds as well as the super easy to use interface. Features like real-time calculation of contribution limits when assessing contribution changes and super simple allocation changes have been specifically mentioned by the team. As the administrator, I really appreciate the continuous safe harbor analysis, seamless integration with Gusto (payroll), low and predictable costs and support that answers emails and phone calls in a timely and complete manner.
Ed Hart | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We utilize Guideline as our 401(k) provider. We added this benefit in 2019 and made the decision primarily because Guideline gave us an easy and efficient vehicle to offer the benefit due to online admin, not having to deal with a broker and integration with Gusto, our payroll system. As a small business, It has been a very efficient and easy tool for our team to enroll and manage their 401(k)s.
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