BCG Blog - Sponsors

Employees who may be in the eye of a personal storm, like divorce, death of a loved one, or other upheaval, may not recognize that their decision making is decreasing in effectiveness. And importantly, those life events often involve changes to retirement accounts.

Comparing your results to others can be motivating to some, but when comparing turns into trying to keep up with your social circle it can harm results instead.

Over the long run, those too on restrictive budgets end up bugging out and making poor money decisions. Planning for splurges can help both with your employee’s waistline and wallet. So how does it work?

Social media can be a great tool to tackle sticky subjects like debt and retirement readiness planning. It’s also fantastic for gathering resources and ideas from how other companies are educating their employees about financial matters. But it can also be full of pyramid schemes and false news.

Employees looking to balance work and family while also budgeting may feel hemmed in by their options. They may avoid options to save time because they think they are too expensive. But there may be some magic to luxuries after all.

There’s more to health care and retirement than explaining an HSA. Sponsors can help employees by educating themselves on the link between health, stress and retirement saving.

While no one can plan for what they don’t know, there are unexpected events that happen frequently enough that employees should know how to plan for them. Plan Sponsors can help employees understand how to prepare for financial surprises.

It seems like every two years the news likes to take issue with 401ks, with articles like top 6 problems with 401(k) accounts. What are employees hearing about so called problems with 401(k)s and how can they respond?

Many think those who work a lot make (and save) a lot. The true fact is those who compulsively work (or might be called workaholics) are terrible savers. What can employers do to ensure those who work too much also understand to save?

Horace Mann Educators Corporation to acquire Benefit Consultants Group to expand strategic capabilities in the retirement market

Statistics show that almost half of young families have significant student loan debt. How can employers help educate their employees, especially those who may want additional degrees so they can specialize, about debt, savings and retirement planning?

In the past, doomsday scenarios or calling people out for behavior was thought to be a way to change their behavior. Fear based techniques have a short shelf life and shame is counterproductive. What works? Here are a few tips on using motivation to help employees invest.

Employees complain about not having enough time to focus on retirement planning. Plan sponsors can’t add a 25th hour to the day, but they can provide tools to plan participants about how to mind their time, both from an efficiency stand point and from a holistic standpoint.

Not all debt has the same impact on retirement readiness for employees. Debt has impacts on retirement readiness your employees may not realize. Below, we list a few key distinctions employees may not know when making budgeting decisions that could impact their retirement readiness.

Employees may be wanting to access some of their retirement funds, rather than take loans, but may be confused by differing rules between Self Directed IRAs and 401(k)s.

The top reasons most folks give for failing to contribute to retirement savings are lack of time (to manage, analyze, or set up retirement plans) or inability to find a spare amount to set aside for savings. As the slogan goes, there’s an app for that.

The best behavior change for saving money may be to focus on what to stop doing, instead of what to start doing.

The discussion sparked by WeWork’s vegetarianism decree about how workplaces encourage wellness and better behavior highlights something important for how employers and plan sponsors may want to think about their own activities in encouraging saving for retirement.

New delivery options can provide employees with more information about the funds they are investing in through your 401(k) retirement plan. But before you turn on the fire hose of information, a quick review of what information helps engage employees in investing can help you increase your employees’ participation in your plan.

With a few years into the robo advising world, how is it working? What do sponsors need to know about how robo advising can help their employees and what do sponsors need to know about robo advisors and educating their employees.

Studies have shown that retirees report greater senses of happiness in retirement when they volunteer. Additionally, employees also report higher amounts of job satisfaction when they can participate in work place charity events –can an employer partner with groups and encourage a volunteer pipeline for retirees?

With fixed costs like housing increasing each year, how can Plan Sponsors help employees understand inflation and cost of living increases in planning for retirement?

Aside from the physical abuse, much of elder abuse also involves control or diminution of resources. According to the AARP, 90% of those engaging in financial elder abuse are family members or are well known to the elder such as neighbors, friends or caregivers.

Are minor details or tech glitches preventing your employees from enrolling in your plan? How can Plan Sponsors learn if administrative details are affecting enrollment numbers?

Women often end up with financial burdens of caring for both children and aging parents: the so-called sandwich generation. Having a financial advisor who understands the juggling act required to carry that burden may mean more than just understanding how much (or how little) money to set aside for retirement.