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Event Details

    The Cost of an Under-Utilized 401k Program: Why Outcomes Matter Most

    Date: February 28, 2018, 11:00am – 1:00pm
    Location:
    Altland House Restaurant
    Event Type:
    Meeting
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    Experts define "retirement readiness" as the ability to replace 75% of your income.  But what happens if an employee hasn't saved enough and keeps working instead?  Is the retirement liability still on the employee?

    In this session we will uncover the hidden liability of retaining "financially trapped" employees.  By working instead of retiring, "trapped" workers transfer liability back to their employer in the form of higher healthcare and disability costs, potentially higher wages and increased absenteeism.  We'll explain how the design of your retirement plan and your participant education strategy are essential to the long-term financial viability of both your employees and your organization.

    Company leaders keep a close eye on their balance sheets.  They pay special attential to big ticket itmes and dedicate resources to reducing those costs.  For example, as healthcare premiums skyrocketed,it became easier to convince "financially-focused" CFO's to allocate resources to "people-focused" benefits like Wellness Programs - healthier employees means reduced premiums which makes for a healthier balance sheet.

    The connection between employee health and organization health hasn't been as obvious when it comes to voluntary retirement plans.  This lack of hard data can lead fiduciaries to believe that their organization doesn't bear any financial risk in employees' decisions to save - or not to save - for retirement.  Subsequently, they focus primarily on managing investment performance and platform fees.  They put good plans in place and then hope employees will take advantage of them.

    But fiduciaries who recognize the connection between the financial health of employees and their company's bottomline are focusing, instead, on plan outcomes.  In fact, according to NAPA*, 56% of employers listed financial wellness as their number one priority in 2016.  We will show that success in outcome-oriented metrics - like asset allocation and deferral rates - can have 10 times the impact of sophisticated investment techniques when it comes to the participant's bottomline.

    After making the "why" case, we'll talk about the "how to's" of helping employees retire on time.  We will outline steps to improve outcomes within your retirement plan, including:

    • Review of plan design features - some that improve outcomes and some that come up short
    • How to change the focal point of committee meetings from fees and investments to education and outcomes
    • How to establish a baseline of "retirement readiness" within your workforce and why this metric is the one that matters most when it comes to deeming your plan successful
    • How to establish an education strategy that will work for your organization

    For companies with an eye on the horizon, managing the aging workforce and paving the way for millennial and iGen employees is essential to long-term viability.  Financial education and successful retirement plan outcomes are crutial to the future success of both employees and employers.  We hope that attendees will gain ideas, enthusiasm and hard dollar evidence that will support them in advancing successful financial outcoume for both their employees and their employer.

    Presenter: Janell Cross, President, Financial Advisor of Align Financial Services Group