One thing that everyone needs to consider is retirement. Unless you were born into a very wealthy family and have a nice cushion of money, you’ll need to think of retirement. In fact, this is actually something that’s quite often pushed even on children as early as pre-teens.
That stage after working, when you’re old, when you’re unfit to work, or even want to spend your golden years having fun, needs to be thought out. As an employer, particularly a business owner, you’ve probably put a lot of thought into your business and your retirement. But what about your employees?
Oftentimes, employers don’t put too much thought into their employees’ retirement. Sure, some companies might partner with a firm or financial advisor so their employees can consider a Simple IRA vs. a 401k, and there are some employers who will instantly have something for employees like a 401k.
But with that said, maybe it’s time to help employees, especially if it seems apartment that they might need some guidance here or there. So, here’s exactly how you can help your employees plan their retirement.
Start By Offering a Company-Sponsored Retirement Plan
While this isn’t entirely the norm for small businesses, larger ones will usually offer this for their employees; the same goes for government organizations. Usually, it’s in the form of a 401k, which money each month is automatically taken out of their account into this savings program. For the most part, this instantly helps employees and the younger ones can feel confident that they’re getting a pretty nice nest started.
Provide an Education Session
While retirement planning is ultimately down to employees, there are some things businesses can do to make it easier for them. For example, they can host information sessions and provide detailed booklets so that their staff knows what to expect from their pension income. Just think about it, if you try, you are showing that you care about their future.
This alone will help them not stress as much about their future which could lead to a better state of mind and more productivity. You could see it as a sort of domino effect. At the end of the day, offering something like a program, a booklet of information, or even partnering up with a business could really help a lot.
Consider Third-Party Consultants
Some employees can truly benefit from their employer temporarily hiring some third-party consultants. These specialists help with the heavy lifting of retirement plan design and administration while also making sure that you’re compliant with regulations. For example, if you’re offering a 401(k) retirement savings plan with an automatic investment option, consider including Guided Portfolio Services or some other advice-based service.
This can help your employees manage their investments and save more for their retirement. This can be especially handy if you just want to ensure that they’re talking to the right people for the right guidance.
Try to Offer Additional Benefits
If you don’t want to invest in a new retirement plan, consider providing other benefits that help employees reach their savings goals. For instance, a comprehensive financial wellness program can provide employees with the expert guidance they need to save more for their retirement and other long-term goals. But it doesn’t honestly need to end there.
As an employer, you might want to think about longevity for your employees too. As an example, some people have to retire early due to physical or health-related issues. This clearly doesn’t help either party. So offering benefits in terms of physical and mental health could be astounding. Plus, this helps make employees feel cared for too.
Encourage How Your Employees Contribute to Their Plan
As a business owner, it’s technically not your business how your employees plan their life after retirement. But you are the one that’s paying them, and you clearly want to help them, and you want them to have a nice cushion for their golden years. So what better way than to show some encouragement? Encourage your teams to assess their retirement needs and work out whether they’ll be able to afford the lifestyle they want in later life. You could also help them plan for unexpected expenses by offering them catch-up contributions. This way, they can put a little extra away each time they receive a pay rise or bonus. This is a great way to get them into the habit of saving early and often, a practice that will serve them well into their later years.
Create a Positive Retirement Culture at the Office
There’s this complicated relationship that society seems to have with retirement. You’re a go-getter for retiring early, something many want. But at the same time, retirement is considered something that’s lazy and selfish. Then there’s this other aspect of being envious of older generations relaxing and exploring. It’s all challenging, and even in the media, retirement is portrayed in so many ways. In fact, so many people feel guilty about retiring or just refuse to retire due to guilt.
Overall, it’s far from ideal, and people shouldn’t work longer than they have to, only due to guilt. So, if you can, why not try and focus on creating a positive retirement culture in your workspace? It’s typically the business owner and management that essentially have control of the culture. So it’s vital to try to make it positive, like “you worked hard for this, you deserve this,” not a “how could you, you don’t need this” type of attitude.
In general, it’s not entirely up to you how your employees spend their retirement savings; it’s not really up to you if they save at all. While employers should have programs like a 401k for employees, it’s still down to them to actually put back money and save it themselves. But as an employer, you’re being incredibly helpful by trying to think of the future of your employees. So hopefully with these tips, you can help guide your employees down the path of creating a solid savings plan that could help them out in their future.
