Karen’s experience ranges from developing retirement plans for small, privately owned businesses to performing due diligence for pension plans during mergers and acquisitions of large corporations. Through her combined knowledge of income tax and qualified plan regulations, Karen designs plans that maximize tax deductions as well as allocations to key employees, which are often overlooked. She also designs non-qualified deferred compensation plans and reviews plans for compliance issues.

Karen has over 30 years of industry and public accounting experience and has served as a consultant for AON, one of the largest international employee benefit consulting firms. Karen received her B.S. in Accounting from the University of Missouri – Columbia and her M.S. in Taxation from Fontbonne University in St. Louis. She is a licensed insurance agent, and financial representative. As a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, she has served on the Employee Benefits Plan Committee. She is also a member of the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries.

Melissa began her career with Advanced Benefits Consulting in February of 2003 as an assistant to the Plan Administrators. She has since progressively advanced through several positions at our office including Plan administrator and Office Manager.

Melissa is currently the Client Relationship Manager and holds a Series 6 Securities License. She is responsible for educational and enrollment meetings, annual client account reviews and general client support.

As Operations Manager & Compliance Consultant, Mike is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations for the retirement plan administration and government reporting functions for the firm. Additionally, Mike consults with clients and other plan sponsors on issues ranging from plan design to plan corrections and IRS/DOL audit issues.

Mike has over 20 years of experience in the retirement plan industry and has recently served as Senior Manager for FIS Global and has also served in previous roles as Director of Operations for Warren Averett Benefit Consultants and as the Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer for Employee Fiduciary.

Mike has served on the Employee Benefits Technical Resource Panel, providing governance and technical support on retirement plan issues to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) as well as serving on the Education and Examination Committee of ASPPA. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and an MBA from The University of South Alabama.

Mary joined Advanced Benefits Consulting in 2021. She brings with her 25+ years of plan administration experience and is assisting with the onboarding of new plan clients as well as working with the administration of existing clients. Her experience includes working with plans as a third-party plan administrator and as a banker.

Mary has been awarded a Bachelor of Arts, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA with a major in Financial Management; Emphasis: Accounting, Computer Science and Economics and was previously accredited as a designation as Pension Administrator (APA) by the National Institute of Pension Administrators (NIPA).

She resides in Des Moines, IA, and enjoys spending time with her family (including her cats).

As a Sales and Plan Consultant, Jason provides assistance to business owners to establish and implement tax advantaged retirement plans using unique plan designs. He works closely with sales professionals from numerous investment providers and offers expert advice and education on their retirement platforms. Jason continues to service and maintain relationships with client retirement plans and performs day-to-day compliance duties within the guidelines of the IRS/DOL.

Jason has over 20 years of experience in the retirement plan industry and has earned an ERPA Designation along with his Qualified Pension Administrator (QPA) certification. Since 2018, Jason has been a member of the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA).

Jason earned a Bachelor of Science degree from SUNY Oneonta in Business Economics. He currently is located in New York and enjoys spending his free time with family and friends.

Nancy is a Plan Administrator and joined the Advanced Benefits Consulting Administration Team in 2014. Nancy has over 20 years of experience in the retirement industry where she has focused on administration and compliance of qualified plans.

Before joining our team, Nancy was a Team Leader for the Metlife Retirement Plan Services Division, and also acted as a Plan Administrator for Benefit Plans Plus LLC, Ruben Brown LLP, and Retirement Plan Services. Nancy has pursued her accreditation through the American Society of Pension Professional and Actuaries in Washington, D.C.

Rita joined Advanced Benefits Consulting’s Administration team in 2017. Before joining our team, she has previous experience in retirement plan operations from her time at Metlife Retirement Plan Services and has worked in public services. She focuses on assisting the team with payroll and distribution processing.