The Personalized Retirement Education Process
Today, employees are inundated with investment theories, tools, and advice. In spite of this overabundance of information, people are reluctant to take the first step in actively planning a retirement savings strategy. They have trouble sorting through the masses of information to discover what applies to them, or if they find what they need, they do not know how to act on it. For employees to make better-informed decisions on the amount to save, how to invest their savings, and when to retire, they need to understand how their decisions will impact their individual retirement goals. To address those one-of-a-kind information needs, Aon Consulting´s Benefacts © service has developed a personalized retirement planning education solution that focuses on the individual. The education is designed around a series of "how much?" questions:
How much will I have from Social Security and my employer-sponsored plan(s)? Social Security can be confusing, so employees need to know basic information such as when benefits can begin and the age at which they can receive unreduced benefits. They also need to know how much to expect from their employer-sponsored plan(s). In the case of defined benefit pension plans, it is particularly important for people to understand the impact of inflation after retirement since many defined benefit plans do not provide automatic cost-of-living adjustments.
How much will I need to save? In this step, employees learn how much they need to accumulate to make up the difference between income from a defined benefit plan and Social Security and their total retirement income goal. (In determining this amount, the defined benefit plan value is actuarially adjusted to reflect the impact of inflation and the loss of purchasing power over the course of the employee´s retirement years.)
How much will I have accumulated at retirement? Now that employees understand the amount they will need from savings, next they need to know how much they can expect to have at retirement. This amount represents the projected savings in employer-sponsored defined contribution plan(s), including before- and after-tax contributions. Typically, it is assumed that annual employee contributions in the future will be based on their current salary and deferral percentage. Future employer contributions will be based on the current matching formula and any non-discretionary contributions.
The Bottom Line
By putting it all together, the employee learns whether or not he/she is on target to retire at a given age through what is called the gap analysis. If the amount of accumulated funds at retirement meets or exceeds the amount he/she needs from other sources of income, the employee is on target. If there is a shortfall, the employee is not on target. At this point, the employee can be given strategies for changing the outcome, including additional savings requirements and education about the importance of asset allocation and risk and reward. Once employees have details about their personal needs and current status, they can put savings and investment education into perspective and begin to make meaningful decisions for their eventual retirement.
New Developments Aon Consulting FORUM May 2004
From information on employers using a personalized retirement education approach, Benefacts has accumulated year-over-year data on employee activity. This aggregated information will form the basis for Aon Consulting´s new On Track Retirement IndexSM. The Index will measure the annual percentage change in the number of employees expected to be on target to retire at a given age. It will include only employees covered at the beginning and end of the period, thereby eliminating any bias for employee and/or employer groups entering or leaving the database. By appraising the effectiveness of their retirement program and their employees´ retirement preparedness as measured with other organizations, the Index will allow employers to benchmark themselves against the aggregate employer group. Each year, the Index will be updated to provide a running comparison for tracking the ebb and flow of savings and investment activity.