Thirty years after the birth of the 401(k) plan, the retirementplanning landscape continues to evolve. Employees now have more sayin how they manage their retirement savings than ever before.Individuals are directly responsible for securing a comfortableretirement—or not. However, various studies show employeeparticipation in company-defined contribution plans remains lowdespite employer attempts to change this behavior.

Part of the problem is plan participants are not always armedwith the tools or education they need to succeed. Insight frombehavioral finance research shows there are three main roadblockspreventing individuals from making critical decisions aboutretirement plans during the time of enrollment:

• They are overwhelmed with the complexities of enrolling
• They don’t know how much they should save
• They are confused as to how and where they should properlyinvest those savings

Each of these saving and investing decisions involvesindividualized assumptions based on life expectancy, health status,income flows and asset returns, to name a few. It’s theseintricacies that force plan participants to make less-than-optimaldecisions. Additionally, plan sponsors often mistakenly add tothese existing challenges by hosting long and confusing enrollmentmeetings. The hefty literature handed out in the meetings onlyintimidates people further.

That’s where brokers can help. These five tips will enablebrokers to help their clients overcome these roadblocks and planfor a successful enrollment. In turn, deploying these strategieswill help put participants on the path to meet their retirementsavings goals and properly plan for their future.

1) Simplify the enrollment meeting

Enrolling in a plan should be as headache-free as possible foreveryone involved. For many companies, the enrollment meeting is anafterthought. Planning and preparing in advance can make theenrollment process much smoother in the long run.

One way brokers can help plan sponsors look ahead is bydeveloping an entire campaign around enrollment. This might includesending messages via email, through a company’s intranet or throughany other channel the company uses, such as posters, payrollstuffers and social media. This ongoing communication will keepretirement planning top-of-mind for individuals and will help thembetter prepare for it.

Brokers also may suggest coupling enrollment meetings with otherbenefits meetings, such as new health care plans or a wellnessprogram announcement. Having everything in front of employees atonce allows them to process the information and decide more quicklyhow they want to proceed.

Lastly, brokers can offer new- and -improved means of enrolling.Instead of giving employees content-heavy brochures and forms,brokers can look for opportunities to integrate interactivetechnologies to simplify the process and better engage employees.Instead of hoping individuals will enroll after the meeting,brokers can distribute iPads toward the end of the meeting soemployees can enroll securely and on the spot. Plus, the broker isright there to answer any questions. On-the-spot interaction andinvolvement with employees is crucial for defeating enrollmentobstacles.

2) Educate employees about saving and investment options

Choosing investment options is another roadblock for employees.Presenting a menu of investment options is daunting, especiallyduring enrollment. It requires further education because there aretoo many options to choose from (equity funds, money market funds,bond funds, etc.). The way these funds are presented can causeconfusion, complicate investment decisions and could delay orprevent enrollment altogether.

Participants require further education on all of the investmentoptions available to them to make a sound decision—particularly theoptions that will meet specific saving goals and objectives best.Offering employees regular educational sessions onretirement-related topics via face-to-face meetings, such as brownbag lunches and presentations, or supplying participants withflyers and tailored emails, will help build employees’ retirementknowledge and get them on the right track to making the bestinvestment choices. Consider some basic and in-depth topicchoices:

• Basics of the financial markets
• Tips for saving money
• Using everyday strategies to build financial strength: Makingsmall changes in your daily spending to better save for yourfuture
• How to overcome investing fears: Learn simple techniques tomanage risk and develop a step-by-step investing plan fortomorrow
• Helping retirement money last: How to make sure you are doingall you can to ensure your savings will last, and how long-termplans with sound investment strategies and disciplined spendinghabits will help you smoothly move toward retirement and financialindependence
• Building your knowledge of investment options: stocks, bondsand stable asset funds. How do you choose the right fit foryou?

It’s important to remember retirement education doesn’t end atthe enrollment meeting. It’s equally critical to provide employeeswith consistent education on the best practices and “how-to’s” ofretirement planning, while also enhancing their knowledge of thevarious types of investment options—particularly those that haveresulted in improved portfolio allocations during enrollment. Thebetter sponsors can educate employees on the right choices fortheir retirement plan, the closer individuals get to achievingtheir savings goals, and the closer employers get to increasingparticipation.

3) Personalize the plan

Employees are more likely to feel ownership of a plan if it iscustomized just for them. Brokers can offer plan sponsors theoption of providing managed accounts: personalized, flexibleinvestment portfolios tailored to the specific needs of eachindividual. As opposed to one-size-fits-all investment options suchas target-date funds (which only take into account a person’sestimated retirement age), managed accounts take into accountfactors such as an individual’s personal financial situation, risktolerance, potential inheritance, benefits of home ownership andlife expectancy.

Also, this personalized snapshot, or gap analysis, showsindividuals their projected retirement savings based on variousfactors such as age, savings, salary and current contributionrates. The analysis then compares this projected retirement savingsto the amount of savings the individual will actually need forretirement. Presenting these snapshots in the enrollment meetingoften is an eye-opening experience for individuals, particularlywhat they need to do in order to take charge and make their savingsgoals happen.

Another way to personalize a plan for individuals is by creatingtailored messages specific to each generation. Each individual hasparticular needs, and those needs vary, especially depending onwhat stage each employee is at in his or her life. Retirementmessages for the fresh-out-of-college employee, for instance, wouldbe much different than messages geared toward an employee who isonly five years away from retirement.

4) Try automatic enrollment

Studies show increasing the number of options in a retirementplan can actually be detrimental and discourage any action.Offering too many options often does more harm than good; it canlead to choice avoidance and prevent employees from enrolling.

Automatic enrollment, on the other hand, helps reduce the numberof active decisions an employee has to make, including percentageof salary to contribute and investment options to select. Itchanges the enrollment default from opt-in to opt-out—so employeesare enrolled in a plan unless they choose not to participate. Ithelps participants overcome any hesitation as well as decisionavoidance caused by complexity and procrastination.

Offering automatic escalation of contributions also will helpaddress many employees’ existing failures to increase defaultcontribution rates as time goes on. Employees always can overridethe escalation of contributions, but using this feature removes theburden to periodically increase their contribution levels.

Additionally, brokers can help plan sponsors further educateemployees about the investment options available to them and how todetermine which particular option will meet specific savings goalsand objectives. For instance, the use of defaults has provensuccessful in nudging participants toward better choices, such asjoining a plan and even saving more money.

To simplify investment decisions, it’s important to educateemployees about the various options, particularly those optionsthat have improved portfolio allocations during enrollment.Qualified default investment alternatives—known as lifecycle fundsor pre-mixed funds—are a positive way to simplify portfolioallocation decisions. Participants who select lifecycle fundsenhance their portfolio efficiency, reduce extreme assetallocations and minimize inappropriate risk exposure. The resultsare the same for individuals who choose pre-mixed funds.Additionally, lifecycle funds help participants avoid the“temptation” of chasing stock returns based on recent trends.

5.) Put the strategies into practice

One of the biggest mistakes brokers can make is assuming all oftheir clients—small- or large-case—are the same. Every company andevery employee is different, so it’s important to have a plan thatis tailored to suit both the individual’s and the plan sponsor’sneeds. Saving for retirement is a very personal endeavor; the plansshould reflect a personalized approach.

Developing strategies based on these behavioral finance insightsand putting them into practice can allow brokers to help theirclients plan for a successful open enrollment. These tips willstrengthen relationships with customers because you’ll be viewed asa true and valuable partner to them. Making a sale is important,but guiding and supporting sponsors and participants after the saleis just as crucial.

Simple things like guiding clients to a helpful website or evenbigger things, like hosting an enrollment meeting or walkingsomeone through their personalized gap analysis, can help companiesboost employee engagement and likely enrollment. When all is saidand done, if a company has great open enrollment success, they mayjust have a broker to thank.