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Methodology

How the registry is sourced and verified

Plan features change, so the integrity of an employer registry lives in its sourcing discipline. Here is the hierarchy, the cadence, and what happens when an entry is in doubt.

Source-of-truth hierarchy

Every employer plan flag is graded against a four-tier hierarchy, highest confidence first. Each registry card surfaces the tier it was sourced from.

  1. T1 — Official benefits page.The employer's own published benefits or 401(k) plan documentation. Highest confidence.
  2. T2 — Form 5500 filing.The plan's annual filing with the Department of Labor. Public and authoritative, though less granular on feature flags.
  3. T3 — Levels.fyi. Crowdsourced benefit data. Useful signal, but requires HR confirmation before acting.
  4. T4 — Carry list. Third-party listicle. Lowest confidence; never the sole source for a high-confidence flag.

We never grade an entry above the confidence its source supports, and forum-only claims are never sufficient on their own.

Why archetypes ship first

This build ships the registry as illustrative archetypesrather than brand-specific claims. Asserting that a named company “allows the Mega Backdoor Roth” without a current primary-source citation is exactly the trust failure this category is prone to. Archetypes teach the four flags — support, conversion mechanic, contribution mechanic, confidence — without making claims we cannot currently substantiate. As each plan is verified against a primary source, an archetype is replaced with a real, dated, cited entry.

Verification cadence

  • Quarterly automated re-check across the registry.
  • Semi-annual manual audit of the most-trafficked entries.
  • Every entry carries its own last-verified date — not a single database-level pin.

The “verifying” state

When a recent change is suspected but not yet reconciled, we mark the entry Verifying — feature may have changed rather than silently deleting it or leaving a stale flag. The prior verdict and what is being checked stay visible, so you can make an informed decision while we confirm.

The tools

The SPD decoder and capacity calculator are deterministic: the same inputs always produce the same output, and the capacity math is unit-tested against IRS-published worked examples. The IRS limits they use are transcribed from the official COLA notice — see Sources.

Informational, not tax advice. Consult a CFP, CPA, or Enrolled Agent before acting on any Mega Backdoor Roth conversion. Plan rules are plan-document-specific — verify with your benefits administrator. IRS dollar limits change annually.