Retirement Announcement

January 2023

Industry Legend Retires:
Rich Hochman, J.D.


It is with mixed emotions that ASC announces the retirement of industry expert and icon Richard Hochman, J.D.

“We were very fortunate to have Rich as part of our ASC Team for six years,” says Alan Gould, President of ASC. “As our Plan Document and Silver Consulting clients can attest, he has been a huge asset to ASC staff and clients.”

Among the ideas, insights, and solutions that Rich contributed while at ASC, are the extremely popular COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) cards that we send to clients each year. This was a service McKay Hochman provided to their clients which we adopted.

Over the last three plus decades, Rich has demonstrated his talent for drafting a full range of prototype defined contribution and defined benefit plans and has provided expert advice to both plan service providers and employers about best practice operation of retirement plans.

Rich has headed document departments, worked with both the private sector and various government agencies to expand coverage of private retirement and served as an instructor of Continuing Education classes. He was part of the IRS Taskforce which created the 5-year individually designed plan and 6-year pre-approved plan cycle systems for the restatement and approval of qualified retirement plans. He also assisted in expanding the pre-approved retirement plan program at the IRS among many other accomplishments. He is perhaps best known for his spearheading efforts to add cash balance plans to the pre-approved platform.

With his breadth of knowledge and expertise, he has also been instrumental in working with government agencies to change their policies and positions to provide a more secure and comfortable retirement for the nation’s workforce.

In 2012, Rich received ASPPA’s Educator of the Year Award, recognizing his skills in educating others in the Industry, in both technical issues of retirement plan design, administration and operation. In 2019, he received ASPPA’s highest honor, the Harry T. Eidson Founders Award. It was an acknowledgment of his passionate efforts to enhance the retirement system for more than three decades.

Rich looks forward to spending quality time with his grandchildren and taking up golf and traveling again during retirement and already has a cruise scheduled for later this year!

Although we are sad to see Rich leave ASC, we wish Rich a secure, comfortable and enjoyable retirement. After all, Rich spent his entire career facilitating a better retirement for the entire nation’s workforce. We are and will remain grateful.