Executive Benefits Retirement Planning & Consulting

Oct 11, 2022

Offering employees attractive retirement planning options is necessary to compete in today’s multigenerational workforce. A 2020 report by MetLife shows that 56% of Gen Z, 68% of Millennials, 72% of Gen X, and 70% of Boomers think a 401k is a must-have from employers.


Retirement is a significant factor in the overall financial well-being of employees. Yet, many employers either don’t offer a 401(k), or their employees don’t fully utilize what they offer. For example, MetLife shows that 38% of employees don’t have a defined retirement contribution plan, 26% don’t know if they have access to a defined contribution plan from their employers, and 39% are significantly behind or haven’t begun saving for retirement, all of which leads to poor financial health of the employee.


It’s the responsibility of the employer to support their employee’s financial well-being as much as reasonably possible. That includes offering plans that meet the needs of a multigenerational workforce and ensuring employees know how to fully utilize them. To make sure you are following through on these responsibilities as a retirement plan sponsor, you must meet your fiduciary obligations and understand the potential liabilities your organization faces. As such, working with a broker and retirement consultant is a smart move to ensure you have all your bases covered.


Executive Benefits Retirement Planning & Consulting


There is no one-size-fits-all approach to retirement planning and solutions for your organization, and when comparing vendors that offer retirement services, you’re not comparing apples to apples in most instances. As such, executive benefits retirement & planning consulting can be of great support. Consultants can support you in customizing a plan for your workforce through detailed analysis and planning.


At KBI, we offer a collaborative approach to help you work with the right consultants and vendors for your objectives. Consultants will get to know your business goals, workforce demographics, and needs while also analyzing your current benefits plan. Gaps can be identified through the analysis, so, if needed, those gaps can be filled with other options or additions to your current plan, or maybe you change plans altogether.


When working with KBI and retirement consultants, you’ll also be forging solid working relationships, so you have support for the long-term, and at any time, you might need to make changes down the road. A long-term relationship also means you have consultants by your side when you need to reevaluate your offerings through assessments of current market trends, changes in your workforce, and so on. Another benefit of working with consultants is ensuring that you’re meeting the legal requirements from a federal, state, and local perspective.


There are several types of qualified retirement plans available for consideration, including:


•            401(k) retirement plans

•            457 retirement plans

•            403(b) retirement plans

•            Cash balance plans

•            Defined benefit plans

•            Pension plans


Aspects of Retirement Plan Management


When you work with a retirement planning expert, it’s easier to ensure you are taking a holistic approach to meet the needs of your employees and the company. The following are aspects that should be discussed and included in retirement plan management and implementation.

Workforce Retirement Evaluation


Workforce evaluation is one of the first steps a company needs to take to determine its retirement plan needs. Your retirement benefits are an important component of your total compensation and rewards package for your employees. A proper needs analysis can ensure you have the ability to tailor your program to meet the requirements of your organization.


Plan Design


A plan is designed after careful consideration and evaluation of your workforce’s needs. Where are they currently in their retirement readiness and how is it impacting the health of your business? Once a plan is designed, there should be continual evaluations with updates as necessary based on the evaluation.


A retirement plan should align with your business culture, goals, and philosophy. A consultant supports the selection of a defined contribution plan that is competitive with other employers for your industry and location. This step ensures you can retain and attract top talent.


Employer Services


There are numerous providers to choose from for retirement planning. An expert broker will support you in vendor evaluation, including what’s in the fine print and the services they offer. A broker can help you with price negotiations, conflict resolution, and ensure the vendor matches the needs of your organization.


Investment Coaching and Consulting


Plan selection, replacement, and investment review are essential components of a successful retirement plan. In addition, continued monitoring and guidance are necessary for all participants to optimize their results for a comfortable retirement when they reach the point that they’d like to retire.


Participant Readiness Services


Employers need to be empowered to utilize the tools at their disposal and maximize their retirement contributions and savings. Training to support them in how they spend, save, avoid debt, and have financial well-being, in general, should be provided.


Retirement consults can help you identify potential challenges your workforce faces to ensure they have the best tools, education, and programs to support their retirement savings choices. Employee retirement readiness, financial challenges, and spending habits are all assessed to support long-term financial stability, and when employees feel finically stable, they have less stress, which means better performance at work.


Examples of retirement readiness tools vendors could offer employees include:


•            Pre-retirement and financial coaching and counseling

•            Customized self-service online portals

•            Benefit statements

•            Call center support for questions


Plan Governance


A consultant can ensure you are mitigating fiduciary risk by assessing the operation of the plan’s committee. The committee has fiduciary responsibilities that must be met by establishing standards, compliant practices, and prudent processes.


Benefits Communication


How you communicate to your employees about retirement benefits matters, and it’s up to you to take the lead as an employer. With the right level of communication, benefit utilization and optimization can improve.


One-on-one training sessions, group sessions, fliers, posters, ongoing communications through emails, and your company website are options to disseminate information about retirement planning. Offering a one-on-one personal touch with a retirement consultant is ideal since an employee’s investment choice selection can be complex and should be based on items like the employee’s current age, retirement goals, and current retirement readiness.


Data Analysis


Retirement planning includes the need to delve into statistics and data to assess your plans for compliance and to understand utilization, retirement readiness, and possible shifts that might need to be made. Consultants can take the burden of data-driven analytics off your shoulders by using workforce evaluation systems, planners, projection models, and more.


Actuarial consultants have the ability to evaluate your current retirement plan structure and show you projections of different retirement funding levels. The costs of delayed retirement to the organization can be addressed through such analysis.


Compliance Testing


Compliance testing is necessary when offering retirement plans to employees. Testing requirements include benefits testing under IRC 401(a)(4), IRC 410, IRC 416 Top-Heavy testing, and Top-25 analysis. If compliance issues come up, they can be addressed quickly when working with a consultant.


Pension and Retiree Medical Plans


Though pension plans aren’t offered as frequently as defined contribution plans are today, they are still an option that some employers choose to offer or are phasing out, with some employees still having access to them. Experts can support you in working through the complexities of pension plans and retiree medical plans to avoid obstacles that could arise.


Pension plan analysis will assess how much your pension plans are truly costing your business. Additional services consulting experts can offer to include pension liability and risk management, financial cost projections and modeling, and qualified separate lines of business (SLOB) analysis testing. For retiree medical, assistance can include help with Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFR) notices, audits, other post-employment benefits (OPEB) notices, valuation, plan design, and more.


In cases of pension plan termination, employers are at risk of legal and compliance pitfalls. Financial analysis and final benefit calculations are necessary. These are common services that a consultant supports. Additional services include government and legal filings to close out the plan.


Annuity Purchases


With annuity transfers, it’s possible to reduce your liability. This can be a valuable option for some businesses since administration and holding pension liability costs for plan sponsors have increased. Retirement consults can help you market your plan, handle bid negotiations, and more to help you save money with a lower-cost insurer.


Working With a KBI and Executive Benefits Retirement Planning & Consulting Expert


Offering retirement plans to your employees is a smart move in today’s competitive landscape. It could make all the difference in a candidate accepting your offer or not.


Ideally, offering retirement plans would be a straightforward process, but instead, it’s a complex process with several factors to consider. Working with a retirement plan consultant can help you every step of the way and into the future, so you can rest more easily knowing your plan is being monitored and supported by experts that know the ins and outs of executive benefits and retirement options. At KBI, we understand the importance of having a financially healthy and productive workforce. We have a team of expert brokers on board that can ensure you connect with the right consultant to support your retirement planning needs. Give us a call today.

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