How to Gauge Retirement Plan Effectiveness

How to Gauge Retirement Plan Effectiveness

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Return on investment. Compound annual growth rate. Market outperformance. Preservation of principal.  Risk adjusted performance. There’s no shortage of metrics available to retirement investors looking to gauge the success of their portfolio. It can be a bit more challenging – and more qualitative – for plan sponsors to gauge their plan’s overall impact on their organization and their participants’ ability to retire.  It’s not easy to get a good sense of whether the 401(k) or 403(b) plan your institution offers stacks up favorably with employee expectations. With that said, however, it’s essential for sponsors to have a good idea of what makes their plan attractive (or not), how to measure it and the overall impact on employee satisfaction. Here’s how to start tracking your retirement plan – and its effect on the bottom line.

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Plan Participant Education is Essential For Employers and Employees Alike

Why Plan Participant Education is Essential

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Plan sponsors have a responsibility to participants to make retirement plan offerings cost-effective, accessible, easy to understand, and risk managed. Their clearest goal is simple: help to ensure participants are prepared for retirement. Unfortunately, that has proven easier said than done. An alarming body of research by the Employee Benefit Research Institute suggests that many employees are not likely to arrive at retirement age in a secure financial position. Similarly, well over half of all participants in a recent survey failed a basic 401(k) quiz, and an almost equal number reported lack of confidence in their ability to choose investments. These figures are symptoms of a larger issue: financial ignorance. Plan participants often lack a solid understanding of what drives the success of their retirement savings, and increasingly, their unawareness is leaving them unprepared to leave work. Implementing plan participant education is key.

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How Plan Sponsors Can Improve 401(k)/403(b) Participant Education Efforts

How Plan Sponsors Can Improve 401(k)/403(b) Participant Education Efforts

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Two-thirds of American workers are not saving enough to retire comfortably, according to several studies. Most have access to retirement savings plans but fail to take full advantage of them. U.S. Census Bureau researchers announced in 2017 that about 80 percent of Americans have access to an employer-sponsored retirement savings plan. However, only 32 percent of workers participate. This alarming statistic illustrates why improving plan participation and education has become a top priority for plan sponsors.

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How to Boost Plan Participation Rates

How to Boost Plan Participation Rates

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When asked why they did not participate in their employer’s 401(k) plan, 40 percent of respondents to a survey said they did not have time to enroll. Nearly an equal percent said they did not earn enough, and 19 percent cited the hassle of enrollment as the reason for non-participation. These concerns, as well as other factors, could be affecting the participation and retirement readiness of the employees of your organization. Here are a few ways you can address these common concerns and increase plan participation rates.

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Why Your Retirement Consultant Matters

Why Your Retirement Consultant Matters

Posted on by Mark OlsenLeave a comment

The top financial concern for most Americans is not having enough money for retirement. This is a real worry for about ⅔ of workers. As a retirement plan sponsor, you can help combat those fears. Sponsoring a retirement plan is a big responsibility. Are you up to the task? Do you feel that you have the knowledge and expertise to design and run a plan that will maximize participant savings? Most plan sponsors don’t. So they hire a retirement consultant.

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