They are highly concerned about not only the large–scale consumer impact of continued economic turbulence on their businesses, but also about the impact spending cuts to benefits programs like Medicare could have on their employees' ability to retire. We've already seen that employees are not prepared for retirement—our latest Retirement Preparedness report found that 82 percent are not confident they are on track to replace at least 80 percent of their income in retirement. So what impact does the deal have for the future of retirement planning?

Coupled with rising inflation, higher taxes, less government subsidized benefits and a rocky market, it has huge implications. This is why employers need to adopt a new strategy for communicating and educating their workforces on benefits, aiming to help employees better manage their cash flow, save more, and invest appropriately knowing they will probably need to overcome more hurdles to fund retirement.

This may sound ambitious, especially considering how tight budgets will be in 2013, but the truth is it can be done regardless of the budget. It's more about shifting your current company communications from standardized information around employee benefits to providing guidance employees can use to really improve their retirement preparedness.

We've seen employers provide benefits communication that does this effectively through some simple and cost-effective strategies that end up saving the company money and helping their employees make better benefits and financial decisions. Here are some simple things you can do to prepare your employees for the future of retirement planning:

Next: Relate any benefits communication to employees' economic fears and uncertainties

1) Start off any benefits communication or education by relating to employees' economic fears and uncertainties.

It may sound obvious, but most employers don't do this, choosing instead to use standardized communications for employees that don't relate to the personal economic concerns which play a major role in their financial and benefits decisions. Employees are tightening their belts these days the same way companies are and need guidance around how to manage the changes and economic uncertainties that generations of the past didn't face.

Employers that tailor their employee communications and marketing to current events do a better job at reaching employees and send a message that they are in touch with their employees' needs and concerns.

Whether you are having a benefits fair for new hires or are educating employees about fees within their 401(k) plan, there is always a way to tie your communications to events that are top of mind for employees. Point them to resources and tools in your communication that can help them better understand the issue.

For example, if you want to email employees about the recent compromise and what it means for them, you could include direct links to reliable articles that discuss the issue. If you are bringing up tax law changes, you can provide a link to a tax calculator or similar resource that can help your employees to plan around these changes. Whatever you do, be sure to always give your employees a "to-do" in each communication.

2) Educate employees on what might change this year and how to prepare for those changes.

Though the increase in income taxes seems to be averted for the middle class for now, there are other concerns around health care reform and Medicare cuts that could highly impact your employees, from young to old. You could start with a tax education workshop on tax law changes taught by tax professionals or financial planning educators who are certified and/or unbiased and cover the following issues:

• Payroll taxes increasing. The deal does not extend the payroll tax holiday, meaning that payroll taxes will be increasing by 2 percent for all employees. Employees will need to consider the impact of smaller paychecks on their budgets.
• Higher taxes for high income employees. While most employees will not likely see an increase in income taxes, senior executives and other employees earning over $400k ($450k for couples) will see the top tax rate revert back to 39.6 percent and taxes on dividends and capital gains increase to 20 percent. There will also be a new Medicare surtax on investment income for individuals earning over $200k ($250k for couples). These high-income employees may be looking for guidance on whether they should switch to pre-tax retirement plan contributions and how to make sure their portfolio is tax efficient.
• Health care changes.  Employees will begin to see the cost of group health coverage reported on box 12 of their W2, so head off the multiple calls you could get by reassuring them now that this amount will not be taxable – at this point it is for informational use only.  FSAs will be limited to a maximum contribution of $2,500 for 2013, and for any employee who faces high out-of-pocket medical costs, the threshold for itemizing medical expenses increases from 7.5 percent to 10 percent for tax year 2013.  These changes make an HSA all the more attractive, so employees need to be educated on the many advantages of moving to an HSA and a high-deductible health plan.
• Medicare spending cuts likely to occur. There has been talk for years about the need to cut government spending to benefits such as Medicare and Social Security. Though there is still no guarantee this will happen, it is highly likely lawmakers will look at ways to cut spending on these and other government programs before the automatic spending cuts kick in on March 1^st. Educate your employees around these and other government benefits cuts and how they could impact their own financial plans. Provide them with tools to evaluate their plans and see where they may need to make changes. A tool that allows employees to manage their savings, investments, and benefits all in one place will help them to make adjustments to their plans if needed, while allowing them to effectively manage their benefits going forward. 

Next: Encourage employees to save more and ensure their investments are appropriate

3) Encourage employees to save more and to ensure their investments are appropriate.

You can tie this into upcoming changes to contribution requirements in 2013. Inform them that they can increase their contributions in 2013 with a simple email communication, flyer, or as part of an educational workshop or other service you're already providing around their retirement plan. With the retirement crisis a major threat to nearly every generation, now is a good opportunity to remind employees of the hurdles ahead that may require them to save more in order to achieve their retirement goals.

Employees are now able to contribute up to $17,500 ($23,000 if 50 or older) to their 401(k), 403b, or 457 plan. In addition, another $5,500 ($6,500 if 50 or older) can be contributed to an IRA. Many employees don't realize these amounts are separate from each other, and there is still quite a bit of confusion about the difference between a Roth 401(k) and Roth IRA. 

Remind your employees about the Saver's Credit, which could provide up to a 50 percent tax credit on the first $2,000 of retirement plan contributions for your lower-income employees. The wage thresholds for qualifying for the Saver's Credit increased in 2013.

We can only speculate about the future of Medicare, Social Security, tax law, and the economy, but we do know that it will be a more difficult road to travel when it comes to retirement planning. Helping employees to prepare for the changes that lie ahead will benefit both employees and their employers in the long run.