They’re better than the rest of us in every way.
Not only do non-profit organizations and their employees do their best to save the world, they also do their best to save—period.
The “2016 403(b) Plan Survey” from the Plan Sponsor Council of America shows upward trends in deferral rates, employer matches and adoption of automatic enrollment.
Participants continue to steadily increase their deferral rates and are now saving 6.2 percent of pay, up from 5.4 percent five years ago. Employers are also contributing more—the average match now is 4.6 percent of pay, up nicely from last year’s 3.8 percent.
“Last year’s most significant finding was the jump in the number of organizations making contributions to the plan. And this year we see a boost in the amount those employers are contributing,” Hattie Greenan, PSCA’s director of research and communications, said in a statement. “These increases are good news in terms of helping improve participant outcomes, or how well savers can be prepared to afford a secure retirement.”
Automatic Enrollment
The number of non-profits using automatic enrollment increased, now up to 19 percent of plans compared to 16.3 percent last year. Though automatic enrollment is rising, nearly 75 percent of plan sponsors surveyed are enrolling their employees at a rate of 3 percent of pay or less.
“We know employers that adopt automatic features in their plans see significant improvement in the savings levels of their workers,” added Aaron Friedman, national tax-exempt practice leader at Principal Financial Group, who sponsored the survey. “But we know from experience that these features tend to work best when the motivation to save more is built in, such as automatic enrollment with at least a 6 percent deferral. Adding automatic increases to gradually bump up deferrals each year is another key feature.”
Focus on Outcomes
More than half of employers—61.5 percent—evaluate whether the retirement plan is meeting its goals. Within that group, there was a 24 percent increase in employers who are measuring their participants’ ability to meet and maintain income goals in retirement.
“Instead of simply looking at measures such as participation, account balances and deferral rates, it’s great to see more plan sponsors taking a holistic view by focusing on possible participant outcomes as well,” Friedman said.
Other Key Findings
- Forty-three percent of plan sponsors use a retirement plan advisor. Of those, half rely on the advisor for assistance with fiduciary responsibility on investments (up from 39 percent last year).
- Plan sponsors reevaluating how plan expenses are allocated increased to 26 percent (from 16.8 percent last year).
- Nearly 57 percent of plan sponsors have an investment policy statement, up from a low of 45 percent in 2009.
PSCA’s 2016 403(b) Plan Survey reports on the 2015 plan-year experience of 614 not-for-profit organizations. New this year, the executive summary includes trending data from the past five years.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
