I worked at a law firm that supplied dinner if you stayed later. It was cool until you realized the clients were being charged for that. That’s cheesy.

It’s also cheesy for any volunteer of a 401(k) committee or any other type of volunteer organization, where they just want to be compensated for things. I’m not talking about dinner, I’m talking about small expenses incurred with being a part of the committee. The problem with paying committee expenses is that it often has not spelled out boundaries. You start going from picking up a dinner tab to spending thousands on travel expenses to a plan sponsor event that will benefit no participants.

Being on a committee is all about the better good, which is for the benefit of the plan participant. Everything else, besides that, is not necessary.