4 Key Components to Participant Outcome Success
IT’S SIMPLE, but not easy.
Any experienced 401k advisor will say this certainly applies to retirement planning, and specifically the behavior and encouragement needed to ensure positive participant outcomes.
It’s why Dan Boardman and his team at Hickok & Boardman Retirement Solutions (HBRS) focus intently on four key components which, when included in a plan, lead to saving success.
None are necessarily groundbreaking, and that’s the point—the tools are there, they just need to be properly implemented and utilized.
“The first is plan design,” says Boardman, Principal of the Burlington, Vermont-based firm. “The second is communication, the third is technology and the fourth is personal interaction (which includes financial wellness and a look at the participants’ total financial picture).”
“One area that makes our firm unique, he adds, “was the hiring of Shaun King, who worked for a local TPA on many of my plans.”
“He’s a partner now, and I originally brought him on because our clients loved him. He could communicate effectively in English and TPA-speak. His responsiveness and knowledge in plan design, documents, testing and compliance were important for meeting our client objectives and to set our plans up for participant success.”
Regarding plan design, he promoted auto-enrollment early on, which is making a dramatic improvement in the lives of the participants.
A sticking point Boardman sees for many advisors, however, is consistency in communication, one reason he’s made it an area of focus.
HBRS recently joined Pensionmark, which (among other things) provides communication services independent of the recordkeeper. The employer and employee can pick and choose how much and which communications they wish to receive, meaning they can self-select at both the employer and employee level.
This independence and consistency is also reflected in their technology.
“We employ an independent financial planning aggregation tool which allows participants, regardless of the recordkeeping platform, to organize and see their entire financial life. We’re really talking about engagement at different levels, and employees need to be met where they are—whether it’s on a smartphone or in a webinar or at the workplace.”
Lastly is the one-on-one engagement with Hickok & Boardman’s full-time education specialist, arguably the most important ingredient in participant success.
“Melanie Brown sits down with employees to understand their total financial picture, and then gives them education, not advice, on what makes the most sense for them.”
One participant with whom Brown has met with for four years illustrates the granular, real-world impact the firm is making.
“She signs up to meet with me almost every quarter and has paid off over $20,000 in credit card debt, established an emergency fund with six months of living expenses, and is now paying for her daughters’ college through cash flow,” Brown says. “She and her husband just refinanced their 30-year mortgage to a 15-year mortgage. They now follow a budget every month and will be able to retire early if they stay on this path.”
Dan Boardman is Principal of Burlington, Vermont-based Hickock & Boardman Retirement Solutions.