1. Help them Discover who they want to be in retirement.
  2. Help them Plan for their future.
  3. Help them Live free of the stress of financial uncertainty.

Great efforts are made to enroll employees in company-sponsored 401(k) and 403(b) plans.  But what happens next?  Oftentimes, not enough is done to help participants re-assess their savings goals and investment decisions after enrollment.  What about the employees who did NOT elect to participate?  Are they being left behind?  Helping employees plan for retirement is not a one-time event, it’s a journey.

In a MassMutual Small Business Employee Financial Wellness study, business owners estimated that 42% of their employees are fearful of retiring because of inadequate finances.  There’s a direct correlation between your employees’ financial health and company profitability. Overhead costs rise due to increased payroll and benefits expenses with an aging workforce.  Also, delayed retirement by senior management may impact promotions for mid-level managers and succession planning.  Working with your retirement plan advisor to offer targeted financial education to every employee will help them experience greater financial security and reduce workplace anxiety, allowing them to be much more productive at work.

Help them Discover who they want to be in retirement.

Your employees should look forward to retirement.  How do they picture themselves after leaving the workforce?  Will they spend more time with grandchildren, travel, pursue artistic talents, volunteer for passionate causes?   A retirement coach can help employees define and prioritize dreams and goals to encourage them to start planning.  Working with a retirement coach will identify their purpose in retirement and will change the mindset of retiring from their career to retiring to something even more fulfilling.

Help them Plan for the future.

Once employees can articulate how they want to live in retirement, they can be guided to set reasonable budgets and attainable savings goals.  It’s a fact that today’s retirees are living longer than in prior generations.  My father-in-law was retired the entire 38 years I knew him.  As a young man, he never imagined living to celebrate his 100th birthday!  Fortunately, he set goals, made sacrifices and saved enough to live comfortably, educate his children and enjoy leisure time with his family.  All employees need some level of financial planning.  Saving for retirement may not be a priority if they don’t have emergency savings, don’t have appropriate insurance coverages, are saddled with medical expenses, or should be paying down debt.  Helping employees create a budget and plan for emergencies will lessen financial worries.

Help them Live a life free of the stress of financial uncertainty.

By promoting and encouraging employees to utilize your recordkeeper and advisors’ tools and resources, employees can discover, plan and track their progress.  Programs geared towards teaching employees not only about saving for retirement but other financial worries, will empower employees and de-stress their lives.  The insight of knowing they did all they could during their working career to plan for retirement will enable your employees to achieve financial independence and look forward to fulfilling retirement.

How RTD Can Help

RTD can complete an assessment and benchmark your current plan features with similar plans in your industry.  This assessment will identify plan demographics and opportunities to engage participants of different generations, compensation levels, locations and much more!

We partner with our clients to determine if automatic enrollment and automatic escalation features will help employees – who might not otherwise take the initiative to enroll – get on track and increase their savings over time.  If automatic enrollment was previously in place, re-enrollment may be a consideration.

In addition to saving for retirement, our participant engagement campaign educates employees on the importance of emergency savings, health savings accounts, 529 plans, and debt reduction.  Global messaging is provided with group meetings and electronic media, while segmented and targeted education is provided through one-on-one sessions and direct communications.  Strategies include coaching employees on the life they want to live in their retirement years and offering pre-retirees greater levels of assistance in planning their transition into retirement through retirement income strategies and retirement plan distribution options.

Contact us today at retire@rtdfinancial.com to learn how you can help your employees, Discover, Plan and Live their financial independence.