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The Future of 401(k) Service

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As our culture moves toward fewer personal service contacts, the 401(k) service provider of the future will make a significant commitment to personal touches.

Teamwork With Business Owner
The 401(k) service provider of the future will partner with the business owner in building goodwill with employees and their families. The 401(k) service provider will recognize that employees who are happy with their retirement plan and understand and control their financial future, will be more focused and productive in the work place.

Quality-Driven, Not Product-Driven
The 401(k) service provider will seek to deliver exceptional value through a relentless pursuit of quality in investment choices, administrative services, and internet access. A third-party analysis of investment performance will keep the choices fresh and ensure adequate monitoring of employee options to help meet retirement goals. A user-friendly internet site will reduce employer's administrative expenses and provide 24/7 employee access to fund values and service changes.

Exceptional Personalized Service
As our culture moves toward fewer personal service contacts, the 401(k) service provider of the future will make a significant commitment to personal touches. Exceptional personalized service will be provided through these four strategies:

• Annual Benefit Review meetings. This will be a fun annual meeting where a 401k economic/market update is given along with a review of other company benefits. Spouses will be encouraged to attend, as a strategic opportunity to build goodwill and engage them in the benefit decisions.


• Personal Consulting to all employees. Employees will be encouraged to direct 401(k) questions to the plan provider instead of the company's human resource department.


• Group seminars. Offering financial seminars to employees will help them better understand and utilize their company benefits. A holistic approach to personal financial strategies will teach individuals and families how to achieve their wealth potential. This will exceed the current movement by the government to require employers to provide more education and financial advice.


• Personalized Follow-up for Departing Employees. The cycle of service isn't complete until a personal contact is offered to departing employees. Personalized strategies will be offered to help employees analyze their rollover/income options when leaving the company.

Today, the industry standard seems to be to establish a 401(k) account and then place it on "auto-pilot." Within the next five years, we believe a full-service approach, which partners with business owners to give employees outstanding value, will be the next step for 401(k) service providers.

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