PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 19

COVER STORY
5 underutilized plan features
that can boost outcomes
THE share of workers who feel very confident in their ability to live comfortably in
retirement remains small-just 17%-while 47% are somewhat confident, according to
the latest Retirement Confidence Survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute
(EBRI). Additionally, the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College (CRR)'s
latest National Retirement Risk Index (NRRI) finds 50% of working-age households are
at risk of having insufficient income to maintain their pre-retirement standard of living.
For plan sponsors interested in having their plan increase participant retirement readiness,
these statistics are likely discouraging.
As Chuck Coldwell, vice president, consulting services at Pentegra Retirement
Services, in Katonah, New York, says, " Staying attuned to participants' saving rates and
making plan design updates can make a huge difference [in] plan success. " Sponsors of
defined contribution (DC) plans can turn to a few simple plan design features-all typically
underutilized-that can increase participants' retirement readiness.
1. Higher Auto-Enrollment Default Rate
The majority of employers (40.7%) of DC plan sponsors that use automatic enrollment
set the default deferral rate at 3%, according to respondents to the 2017 PLANSPONSOR
Defined Contribution Survey; 17.6% use a default rate of 6%, and only 7.7% use one
greater than 6%. If the most significant factor in readiness is savings rate, pushing the
default rate to 6% would increase both low- and high-income workers' saving success.
Richard Reed, vice president and defined contribution practice director at Sibson
Consulting in Boston, is an advocate of auto-enrollment. However, he says, the message
sent by using a 3% default deferral rate is that this is enough. " The industry suggests
people save between 12% and 15% of their income annually for retirement. Plan sponsors
need to move the default savings rate up to send the right message, " he says.
OPPORTUNITIES
Art by Jing Wei
PLANSPONSOR.com June-July 2018 19
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PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018

Opportunities Knock
2018 Plan Administration Guide, Part 2
Narrowing It Down
ESG Comes to Light
Protection at All Costs
The Sum of All Sources
Upwardly Mobile
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - C1
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - FC1
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - FC2
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - C2
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 1
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 2
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 3
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 4
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PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 16
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 17
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - Opportunities Knock
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 19
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 20
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 21
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 2018 Plan Administration Guide, Part 2
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 23
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 24
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 25
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 26
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 27
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 28
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PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 39
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 40
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 41
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - Narrowing It Down
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 43
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 44
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 45
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - ESG Comes to Light
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 47
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 48
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 49
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - Protection at All Costs
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 51
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - The Sum of All Sources
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 53
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - Upwardly Mobile
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 55
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - 56
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - C3
PLANSPONSOR - June/July 2018 - C4
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