Targeted Participant Education Opportunities

Helping Participants Take Meaningful Action Toward Retirement Readiness

Employees are at different stages in their retirement journey, and targeted education can help improve engagement, savings behavior, and overall retirement outcomes. Working with your Recordkeeper or Plan Advisor allows you to identify key participant groups and deliver educational content tailored to their specific needs.

Key Participant Situations to Target

Participant Situation	Educational Focus
Employees saving less than 5%	Encourage increased contribution rates and explain long-term savings impact
Eligible employees not participating	Highlight the value of starting early and participating in the plan
Employees nearing Social Security age	Provide education around Social Security timing and retirement income planning
Employees within 3 years of retirement	Focus on distribution strategies, income planning, and retirement readiness
Employees invested 100% in a single fund or asset category	Promote diversification and investment risk awareness
Employees not receiving the full employer match	Reinforce the importance of maximizing the employer contribution opportunity
Employees approaching age 50 and ages 60–63	Educate participants on catch-up contribution opportunities and annual limits
Employees with no beneficiary designation	Encourage beneficiaries to be reviewed and updated
Employees who have not logged into their account in the past year	Increase engagement through account access reminders and plan resources
Employees who have never run a financial projection or set a goal	Promote retirement calculators, projections, and personalized goal setting

Best Practices for Participant Education

• Keep educational content short, clear, and actionable

• Focus on one key message at a time

• Use participant-friendly language that is easy to understand

• Deliver communications at meaningful milestones or trigger points

• Reinforce available plan tools and resources

Many Recordkeepers and Plan Advisors maintain libraries of ready-to-use educational materials that can support targeted participant outreach campaigns.

The Goal

Targeted education helps participants make informed decisions, improve retirement preparedness, and increase engagement with their retirement plan benefits.