By Katie Logisz
October 18, 2004

The U.S.Mayor recently talked to platinum partner Nationwide Retirement Solutions about a newly implemented initiative to learn more about city employees' retirement needs. Nationwide administers the USCM 457 Deferred Compensation Program that allows city employees to voluntarily save for their retirement. Currently, there are over 400,000 city employees across the country taking advantage of this valuable employee benefit.

Q Why is Nationwide Retirement Solutions undertaking a project to better understand the needs and preferences of the city employees participating in the 457 Deferred Compensation Program?

A Over the past year NRS has been conducting research on the activities and attitudes of employees in regard to their employer'sponsored 457 plans and has learned much about employee needs for assistance. According to Maggie Kwasny of Nationwide, "Through this analysis we hope to do an even better job of developing educational materials and programs to help city employees save for retirement." With this new understanding, Nationwide will be better positioned to serve USCM participants through enhanced products and services as well as communication tools for both employees and employers.

Q What does this project involve?

A NRS will be enriching the participant information that it currently has in its administrative recordkeeping system with information obtained from external consumer databases. NRS also will be conducting additional research and attitudinal studies with private and public sector employees (both participants & non-participants). Collectively, these data will allow NRS to segment its 457 participant population categories, while carefully protecting the confidential records of plan participants. The goal for this segmentation is to provide Nationwide with an opportunity to develop effective targeted educational campaigns.

Q How will this initiative benefit our city employees and 457 plan participants?

A Experts agree that the most effective approaches to education are based on messages that connect with an individual. Reaching participants based on their own needs and interests can motivate them to take action to appropriately invest for retirement. That's what this project is all about. This research will allow Nationwide to better educate employees through targeted communications programs about the advantages of their 457 plan and how best to use them. NRS will conduct a series of pilot programs, using the results of the research. The programs will focus on objectives such as helping participants make better asset allocation decisions and, for those nearing retirement, developing a more effective plan for investing and using their accumulated assets after they retire.

Q How will city employers hear about Nationwide's research findings?

A When this research is complete Nationwide will present findings in an update to America's Retirement Voice, a series of reports published through the Nationwide Retirement Education Institute. The findings will also be shared with employers as NRS works with them to develop more effective programs for their employees.

Q When does NRS expect to complete this research?

A NRS plans to have this completed in the second quarter of 2005. For information about this research, or to find out more about the USCM/NRS deferred compensation program, please contact Kathryn Kretschmer-Weyland of the U.S. Conference of Mayors at 301-460-5251, Katie Logisz of the U.S. Conference of Mayors at 202-861-6739, or Maggie Kwasny of Nationwide Retirement Solutions at 614-854-8697.