Nationwide supports National Save for Retirement Week Oct. 19-25
State of economy underscores need for education
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 13, 2008
Contacts:
Chad Green (614) 677-1679
greenc28@nationwide.com
Columbus, OH — The current challenges facing the U.S. economy have left many of today’s workers concerned about their retirement security. Couple that with a recent study which found that 61 percent of households are at risk of being unable to maintain their standard of living in retirement1, and it’s likely that increasing plan participation may be an uphill struggle for many plan sponsors.
National Save for Retirement Week, Oct. 19-25, is an opportunity for plan sponsors to help restore confidence by educating workers on how to take full advantage of their retirement savings program. Nationwide Retirement Solutions (NRS) is committed to helping its plan sponsors make the most of this opportunity.
“Plan sponsors have many demands on their time and it can be difficult to find opportunities to talk with employees about the importance of saving for retirement,” said Matt Riebel, president of Nationwide Retirement Solutions. “We’re here to help ensure that they have the support they need to take advantage of National Save for Retirement Week and help increase participation in their deferred compensation plans.”
Expos and Campaigns
As part of this national initiative, NRS is partnering with the City
of Memphis, TN, Shelby County, TN and Dallas County, TX to host all-day
retirement expos for city and county workers. These expos will offer
employees an opportunity to meet with plan representatives, make changes
to their accounts and attend retirement planning workshops.
“Retirement expos are a very effective way to grab employees’ attention and motivate them to start saving now,” said Riebel. “Inertia is one of the biggest threats to a financially secure retirement and this is one way that plan sponsors can help their workers overcome that.”
The state of Kentucky and the City of Phoenix held similar expos prior to National Save for Retirement Week. Kentucky held expos in three cities the week of Sept. 21 and the city of Phoenix held an expo on Sept. 29.
NRS, in partnership with the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM),
has also developed materials that mayors can use to promote National Save
for Retirement Week among city employees. So far, 148 mayors have pledged
to reach out to their workers and encourage them to participate in their
deferred compensation program.
Tools and Resources
NRS has created a series of educational resources that plan sponsors can access at www.nrsforu.com. These resources include an online enrollment workshop, a web banner that they can post on their website, worksite posters and fliers, and a calendar of suggested events that plan sponsors could host during the week.
In addition to helping plan sponsors raise awareness about retirement issues, NRS is offering to meet with their employees during the week to educate them about topics such as asset allocation, debt reduction and plan enrollment.
More about National Save for Retirement Week
National Save for Retirement Week was established by the National
Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA) to
raise awareness about the need for retirement planning among today’s
workers. This year, both the U.S. Senate and the U.S House of
Representatives have passed resolutions declaring Oct.19-25 National Save
for Retirement Week. For more information about the week, visit www.nagdca.org.
About Nationwide Retirement Solutions
Nationwide Retirement Solutions, founded in 1973, is a subsidiary of
Nationwide Financial Services, Inc®. The company provides recordkeeping,
education and administrative services for public employee defined
contribution plans and serves more than 1.55 million government employees
with more than $45.2 billion in assets under management.2
Nationwide, Nationwide Financial, the Nationwide Framemark and On Your Side are federally registered service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.
1Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, National Retirement Risk Index, 2008
2Company records as of May 2008
