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It’s our experience here at KMA that HR professionals CAN get more employees participating in their company retirement plans, and that’s the topic of the upcoming “Save More Tomorrow” Retirement Plan Seminar presented by Lebel & Harriman on March 26.

Research conducted by one of the world’s top experts in behavioral finance is at the heart of a Retirement Plan Seminar aimed at CEOs, CFOs, HR professionals, and others who design and operate their company retirement plans. Based on the book, Save More Tomorrow by Shlomo Benartzi, the seminar focuses on how to improve employee retirement plan participation and outcomes.

Benartzi’s findings are surprising:

  • One-third of American workers who have access to retirement savings plans at their workplaces fail to join.
  • Those who do join typically save too little and make unwise investment decisions.

“We find that for most people who don’t sign up, it’s a matter of inertia,” says Financial Advisor Josh Chase of Lebel & Harriman. “Not doing anything is easier than filling out a participation form, or deciding which fund to invest in. Overcoming these kinds of behavioral challenges with practical solutions is what Save More Tomorrow and this seminar is all about.”

Seminar participants will learn to create and improve participant retirement outcomes by focusing on participant behavioral challenges and transforming them into behavioral
solutions such as:

  • Automatic enrollment of plan participants who must opt-out of enrollment if they don’t want to participate
  • Automatic contribution escalators that increase investment levels over time unless the participant elects not to
  • Helping individuals, especially younger people, see their future selves and their retirement needs
  • Reshuffling the order in which funds are listed on 401(k)/403(b) plan menus since the first fund is typically the most popular (because people don’t know how to pick one) and also the most conservative.

“Using these tools, our goal at Lebel & Harriman is to help our clients achieve what we call 90/10/90,” explains Josh. “That’s 90% of eligible employees participating in their retirement plan, deferring 10% of their pay into it, and 90% investing in the funds that are right for them given their ages and desired outcomes.”

The Seminar will be held at the Portland Country Club on March 26 starting at 8:30 am. There is no charge for the seminar, but anyone planning to attend must RSVP to Jane Dyer at Lebel & Harriman by email at jdyer@lebelharriman.com or by phone at (207) 773-5390.

Each attendee will receive a copy of Save More Tomorrow by Shlomo Benartzi.

Anyone with questions about the seminar or retirement plans in general should contact Josh Chase at (207) 773-5390 or by email at jchase@lebelharriman.com.

Lebel & Harriman is financial planning firm headquartered in Falmouth, Maine. They offer expertise in retirement planning, insurance planning, and investment services.