Association of Millwork Distributors AMD is proud of having some of the industry’s most respected professionals comprise our Executive Committee and Board of Directors. They are dedicated to strengthening the Millwork Industry and providing important resources for our members.
AMD provides excellent avenues for you to share ideas and valuable expertise with your fellow members in the Millwork Industry. You can get involved, stay current, and create lasting relationships by participating in all the opportunities available to you. Take advantage of your access to powerful educational opportunities. As a member, you have your fingertips on valuable knowledge about current topics, trends, industry standards & codes, and business fundamentals to help you develop and implement meaningful, need-based skills.
Externally, AMD is known and promoted as a leader in the Millwork Industry. Internally, AMD positions distributors, manufacturers, and manufacturer representatives as the Association’s focal point. As a member, we encourage you to take full advantage of these benefits to help improve and promote your business. Our purpose is to serve you as a member. An important part of that service is to work on your behalf in Washington, D.C. AMD leverages its affiliation with the National Association of Wholesale-Distributors (NAW) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to promote our members’ position in the marketplace.

Association of Millwork Distributors
 serving the window, door, and millwork industries

401k Plans

“AMD has surveyed the landscape,
so you don't have to.”

Now every AMD member company can have a customized retirement plan, no matter how small or how large your company is. What's important about this benefit is the level of support, from plan design, through investment advice, to regular contact.

These 401(k) plans provide member companies with a complete retirement platform including a large array of investments, on-line access, educational assistance, personal visits and all administration. With new technology, 401(k) plans are now affordable for small businesses. Plus, the government gives small businesses a $500 tax credit for setting up a 401(k) plan. Your employees can also lower their income taxes and take advantage of tax-deferred compound growth. The following FAQ’s review some of the most common concerns and misconceptions that keep members from implementing a retirement plan they really want.

  • Employers have to match.
    Matching the first few percent of employee contributions can be a powerful perk. Nevertheless, it is optional with these plans. Unless you choose a Safe Harbor plan, and there can be good reasons to make that selection, matching contributions are not required. Your employees will still appreciate the opportunity to set aside their own funds for disciplined tax-deferred investing. Profit sharing is another popular alternative to matching. It can be discretionary each year. Yet employees can share in the company's success, which motivates them to enhance that success while improving their perception of their retirement plan.
  • It's too complicated.
    Busy HR professionals or companies too small to have an HR department cringe at the thought of climbing through hundreds of retirement plan specs. Even after they whittle it down to a short list of favorites, they have to deal with multiple interwoven features, trying to picture what the employees really want. Here again, AMD has done its homework. They have filtered the short list and selected the plans. Members still have a rich menu of options, but it's manageable and comes with full support and explanations of each feature. Plan sponsors can expect as much hand-holding as they need to navigate the menus. Participants can also turn to fully featured web sites and help when they need it.
  • It's too expensive.
    Your AMD plans have all the fees disclosed up front. Even better, the pricing is competitive. Member companies of all sizes will get the benefit of AMD's buying clout. This is particularly true for the smallest AMD members. Companies with 2 to 25 employees are eligible for annual fees of only $250 for the plan plus $25 per employee. For that price, they will get a fully featured multi-manager platform from Hartford. Also companies setting up new plans may be eligible for a tax credit covering their expenses in the first three years.
  • Administration is a nightmare.
    Well, it could be. However, these plans include all administration as well as all government filings. Whether you handle payroll in house or use an outside service such as ADP, plan administrators will link to your payroll data base, ensuring that transfers are timely, and create all necessary reports and employee statements. Web sites, plan sponsor reports, and educational material round out the offerings.
  • Choosing the investments requires an expert.
    Indeed! That's why both ING and Hartford have a formal process to select, monitor, and replace the funds, as appropriate. Participants can create their own asset allocation, with or without help, or they can choose one of several pre-mixed allocations based on their time to retirement and their attitude toward risk.
  • Employees can save on their own.
    That's true, and they should. It's just that 401(k) plans offer higher annual limits, the discipline of payroll deductions, dollar cost averaging, and fewer barriers to income tax deductions. Think of the company plan as the foundation. Employees can still set up their own IRA, insurance plan, and/or savings account. Best bet is to take the holistic view, making sure that asset allocation across all plans is consistent and fits each person's needs.
  • The Roth IRA is a better deal.
    That was once true for employees who met the income restrictions and wanted to trade current deductions for future tax free gains. Now that the Roth feature can be included in 401(k) plans, we need to refer back to the higher limits, discipline, etc. In addition, the Roth 401(k) does not have an income restriction. If the plan has this feature, each participant can designate any portion of his or her contribution to be characterized as a Roth contribution.
To Learn More
These AMD offerings are distinguished by the high level of access, support, and training available to members. Over the next few weeks, look for detailed literature and fully functional web sites. Companies which participate in the plan can expect personal visits, employee presentations, and a unique level of real-time prompting and assistance. For more information, or to request a free no obligation review of your current plan, contact Alan Gorlick at 813-225-8409.