Designing the 401k Plan to Maximize Positive Participant Outcomes

Michael Walters, Deschutes Investment Consulting, discussion centers around retirement plan design and participant outcomes, with a focus on the use of automatic features like auto-enrollment and auto-escalation to encourage better savings behaviors among participants.

Key points discussed include:

  1. Plan Design and Participant Outcomes: Walters emphasizes the importance of incorporating automatic features in retirement plans to improve participant outcomes. He mentions that auto-enrollment at higher percentages is more effective in ensuring participants save adequately for retirement.
  2. Benchmarking and Measurement: Walters highlights that their firm measures participant outcomes by looking at average referral rates, overall savings, and retirement readiness.
  3. Financial Wellness: The firm also focuses on financial wellness by offering group education followed by one-on-one advice sessions with participants. They stress the importance of emergency funds and debt management as part of overall financial wellness.
  4. Deschutes Investment Consulting: Walters briefly introduces his firm, noting that they specialize in retirement consulting since 1996, focusing solely on providing beneficial outcomes for their clients’ participants.

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