PLANSPONSOR - April/May 2019 - 29

2019
the first 6% for employees hired before July 2015 and 50% on the
first 6% for those hired after.
The individual meetings are a hit with employees, so much
so that there is usually a waiting list to get one, says Jim Hill,
manager of support services at IPSC.
" I have wonderful feedback from our employees about those
meetings, " he says. The one-on-one sessions were initially geared
to employees who were close to retiring, but, for the past few years,
younger employees have increasingly taken advantage of the individualized
sessions to get a head start, he says.
" We've found that we can address some big, high-level topics
in the group meetings, but many times employees want to sit
down one on one, " he says.
In addition to providing a wealth of educational options,
IPSC always has an eye on plan fees. According to Larsen, fees are
something the company has " been in tune with for many years, "
as it was one of MRP's first clients to implement fee levelization,
around 2012. The company also renegotiated its fees several times
with both its old and its new recordkeeper.
During a full request for proposals (RFP) in 2016, IPSC
decided it was more concerned about the overall recordkeeping
services than about just lowering fees, Larsen explains. It was then
that the company started working with recordkeeper Principal,
which offers participants a variety of in-person and virtual options
to help them work toward retirement readiness.
A Digital Assist
Principal's web options have helped to raise participant deferral
rates, says Joleen Workman, the recordkeeper's vice president of
customer care in retirement and income solutions. She notes that
a greater number of Principal's clients' participants have signed
up for automatic escalation on the website since the 2015 launch of
a digital assistant.
The assistant, My Virtual Coach, essentially performs a yearly
checkup on participants' accounts. It walks the employee through
his account, cataloging any life changes that have occurred in the
past year and ultimately asks if he wants to set up an automatic
increase or raise his deferral rate. Of the 854 participants at IPSC,
49 have elected Principal's Step Ahead auto-escalation, according
to that company's data.
The onboarding experience also has contributed to higher
deferral rates. When new employees join the plan via Principal's
website, they are asked if they want to set their deferral rate
at 10% to start or if they want to opt for auto-escalation, says
Workman, adding, " It's our way of making sure every individual
has a personalized way to onboard into the plan. "
To enable retirement saving, Principal provides employee
education through programs such as " Milestones, " which covers
budgeting, health savings accounts (HSAs), college-education
planning, and will and legal document preparation services,
among other topics. The platform provides an online assessment
of users' strengths and challenges in reaching their financial
goals, according to Principal.
401(k) plan design with features such as IPSC's auto-enrollment
is key to increasing deferral rates and helping employees
prepare for retirement, Workman says. " If you think about how
we get more Americans on track for retirement, plan design
is the most important, the biggest lever. " Add effective education,
and employees can become more confident and, therefore,
feel more comfortable taking action, she says. " [IPSC does] an
outstanding job of rallying around its employees and really doing
lots of things to promote the value of the plan and why it's important
to [save], " Workman says.
" ... people have financial
stress outside of work that
affects their ability to take
advantage of the plan. "
A Focus on Wellness
Larsen, who has worked with Intermountain for about 15 years,
says a reason for its success with retirement readiness is its
concern for the financial wellness of its employees. " The company
loves innovating to help improve its employees' wellness, " he says.
Beyond the 401(k) and pension plan, IPSC's retiree medical
benefits cover employees, as well as their dependents. The medical
benefits allow participants who want to retire at age 55 to pay
the same medical premiums as do active employees. When an
employee turns 65, the company pays the premiums for the Part D
Prescription Plan and Part F Medicare Supplement Plan, Hill says.
" It's been huge for them to be able to take advantage of early
retirement, " Lewis says, referring to the availability of the retiree
medical benefits.
In addition, the lump-sum benefit added to the pension
plan a year ago July has given employees even more options for
how they can retire. Lewis estimates that 85% of those who have
retired since then have taken the lump sum.
" We believe in trying to give our employees choice: what they
want, what will work for their needs. " -Corie Hengst
Nonprofit DC Plan >$250mm Finalists
Cambia Health Solutions Portland, Oregon
SRC, Inc. North Syracuse, New York
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, Massachusetts
Read the full finalist profiles on plansponsor.com/PSOY2019.
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