2016 Communication and Education Plan

City of Foster City

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2016 Communication and Education Plan

Purpose

Increase retirement readiness of City of Foster City employees by using various channels of

communication to build education and encourage proactive engagement with their 457(b)

retirement plan.

Objective ▶ Encourage unenrolled, plan eligible employees to take action toward retirement and

participate in the City of Foster City 457(b) Retirement Plan to save for their future

▶ Build the financial education of employees to help them make confident financial decisions

by providing easy access to online resources, financial workshops and an onsite advisor

team

▶ Improve the retirement readiness of all City of Foster City employees by emphasizing simple

steps they can take now to save more for their future, while remaining within their budget

▶ Educate employees about the importance of diversifying their investment allocations to

develop a robust portfolio and protect against down-market turns

Key Components ▶ Targeted Campaigns (digital and print)

▶ Web Messaging

▶ Individual Consultations and Seminars/Workshops

▶ Online Tools and Resources

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2016 Communication and Education Strategies

Strategic messaging:

The City of Foster City and VALIC have partnered to help ensure all employees understand their

retirement options and can feel confident when making financial decisions. Through segmented

and targeted messaging, employees at the City of Foster City will receive relevant and pertinent

financial information that coincides with their particular financial situation and life stage.

Audiences:

Entry Level/ Early Career

- Benefits of enrolling early and associated materials (i.e. plan document, forms)

- Awareness of specific deferred compensation plan requirements and policies

- Basic investment strategies such as diversification, pre-tax vs. post tax contributions

Mid-Career

- Reasons to continue saving/ benefits of enrolling in the plan if not currently contributing

- Developing a financial plan and coordinating other sources of retirement income;

Understanding Roth 457 options compared to regular 457 contributions

- Considering available investment guidance and broadening familiarity with asset allocation

options

Pre-Retirees

- Maximizing contributions to include 50+ and traditional catch-up provisions/ Enrolling in the

plan if not currently contributing

- Termination options including use of sick leave, vacation and other accrued benefits as

contributions to their retirement plan assets

- Preliminary understanding of distribution options and meeting long-term retirement needs

Retirees

- Asset Allocation strategies in retirement (i.e. liquidity strategies, diversification)

- Evaluating alternate retirement options including IRAs an annuitized distributions

- Rollover options and the pros/cons of remaining in the Plan compared to non-Plan options

Quarterly Overview

2016 Communication and Education plan

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Objective:

Plan Participation

Objective:

Financial Education

Objective:

Retirement Readiness

Objective:

Diversification

Emphasis:

Inform employees about the

reasons they should consider

supplementing their pension

plan by enrolling in the

457(b) plan

Key Component:

Targeted Mailings

Emphasis:

Build financial education for

all employees to help them

make confident and informed

financial decisions that fit

their situation

Key Component:

Seminars and Videos

Emphasis:

Help highlight the importance

of being retirement ready by

showing simple steps

employees can make to

increase their savings

potential

Key Component:

Email and Web messaging

Emphasis:

Educate employees about

the potential benefit they can

receive by diversifying their

assets to protect against

market turns

Key Component:

Workshops

2016 Communication and Education Plan

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Objective I (1Q16)

Emphasis: Plan Participation

VALIC will provide plan eligible, unenrolled employees with targeted

and specific information regarding their retirement options to begin

planning for their future.

Employee communications:

A series of messages will inform employees about the benefits of

enrolling in the 457(b) plan, reasons to save and provide additional

resources to help elicit action.

▶ Individual consultations with Geoff Akers, your local financial

advisor

▶ Targeted Mailings – unenrolled employees will receive information

about the benefits of enrolling in the 457(b) plan as well as reasons

to begin saving now for retirement

▶ Fliers to be posted: March 29th for Wellness Fair

▶ Targeted Emails – as a reinforcement, all employees not enrolled in

the plan will receive an email linking them to their specific plan

information to educate about why they should take action

▶ Retirement Income Strategies Seminar – invite unenrolled

employees to learn about retirement income strategies and consider

enrolling in their retirement plan to save for their future

▶ Update Custom Website – update information and layout of

VALIC.com/fostercity to help engage and educate employees about

their plans as well as areas of opportunities to increase their

retirement savings potential

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Objective II (2Q16)

Emphasis: Financial Education

VALIC will further financial literacy of employees by guiding them

through financial concepts.

Employee communications:

A series of messages will educate employees about financial

concepts to build a firm foundation of understanding to help them

make confident financial decisions.

▶ Financial Planning Campaign – encourage participants to meet

with their dedicated City of Foster City financial advisors to get a

financial plan created

▶ Financial Literacy Online Seminars – host on-demand webinars

on VALIC.com/fostercity for easy access to financial literacy

education – Add Email for it

▶ Statement Messaging – use available space in Quarterly

Statements to encourage participants to visit VALIC.com/fostercity

to get financial education

▶ Financial Education Workshops – financial advisors will work

with employees and help them understand key financial concepts.

▶ Suggested seminars include:

*Millennials and Retirement

*Retirement Income Strategy for Women

*Recommendation: Invite spouses and significant others to

attend seminars as well

▶ Individual consultations with Geoff Akers, your local

financial advisor

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Objective III (3Q16)

Emphasis: Retirement Readiness

VALIC will encourage employees to increase their contribution rates to

maximize retirement potential.

Employee communications:

A series of messages will stress the importance of growing assets

needed for retirement by taking advantage of compound interest and

“paying themselves first” to become retirement ready.

▶ Individual advisor consultations with Geoff Akers, your local

financial advisor - will be onsite for 3 weeks in the summer to

assist in meeting with employees

▶ RetireFIT – participating employees will receive a retirement

readiness report highlighting where they are, where they need to be

and how to get there

▶ “Am I on target?” Email/Flier – send all VALIC participants a

reminder to increase their retirement savings to benefit from

compound interest and link to the “effects on your paycheck”

calculator

▶ Online Articles – host education on VALIC.com/fostercity and the

City of Foster City’s internal website, if applicable. Articles can also

be provided for employee newsletters, if applicable

▶ Statement Messaging – Add statement messaging about

increasing contributions to become retirement ready

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Objective IV (4Q16)

Emphasis: Diversification

VALIC will help employees understand the importance of diversifying

their assets and preparing for market down-turns

Employee communications:

A series of messages will educate employees about complex financial

concepts to build a firm foundation of understanding to help make

confident financial decisions.

▶ Targeted Mail Campaign – send a targeted postcard or letter to

employees allocated in one fund who would potentially benefit

from diversifying their investments

▶ Quarterly Statement Message – highlight the importance of

diversifying their investments to protect their assets

▶ Diversification Flier - place in heavily populated employee

areas as an added touch point and reinstatement of message

▶ Investment Planning Workshop – host the investment planning

workshop at least once a quarter to help educate employees and

provide ample opportunity for them to ask questions and receive

pertinent information

▶ Online Articles and Web Messaging – use VALIC.com/fostercity

to host asset allocation information and develop a resource center

where diversification information can be hosted for easy access

▶ Individual consultations with Geoff Akers, your local financial

advisor

Monthly Breakdown

2016 Communication and Education plan

March: Plan Participation

Audience: Plan eligible employees

Focus: Enrollment / Wellness Fair

Materials: Attend wellness fair

Seminar: Retirement Income Strategies

(Completed with max capacity of 10 employees)

1Q16 Communication Strategy

February: Increase Contributions

Audience: Pre-retirees; Mid-Career; New

Career/Entry Level

Focus: Increase deferrals

Materials: Mailed flier

Seminar: N/A

January: Plan Participation

Finalization of CE Plan.

No communications deployed to

employees.

June: Financial Education

Audience: Retirees

Focus: Estate Planning

Materials: Mailed letter, survey

Seminar: Retirement Income Strategies for

Women

2Q16 Communication Strategy

May: Financial Education

Audience: New Career/ Entry Level

Focus: Getting Started

Materials: Flier and “Budgeting and

Setting Goals” video on website

Seminar: Millennials and Retirement

April: Plan Participation & Financial Education

Audience: Mid-Career

Focus: Enrollments & Financial Planning

Materials: 1Q16 Statement Msg, Mailed/Emailed non-participating employees about plan participation, provided fliers as added touch points

Seminar: N/A

August: Financial Education

Audience: Retirees

Focus: Financial Fraud

Materials: Mailed letter, flier

Seminar: N/A

3Q16 Communication Strategy

September: Retirement Readiness

Audience: New Career/ Entry Level; Mid-

Career, Pre-Retirees

Focus: FutureFIT Launch and Fee Disclosure

Materials: Announcement email, video, website,

fee disclosure web msg

Seminar: N/A

July: Retirement Readiness

Audience: Pre-Retirees

Focus: Are you track?

Materials: 2Q16 Statement Msg, “Are you

on track?” email, GPS flier

Seminar: N/A

December: Ret. Readiness

Audience: All employees and participants

Focus: Retirement Readiness & Fee Disclosure

Materials: RetireFIT statements, email, diversification flier, fee disclosure postcard

Seminar: N/A

4Q16 Communication Strategy

November: Diversification

Audience: Participants allocated in one fund;

default investment options

Focus: Diversification

Materials: Flier/ Letter

Seminar: N/A

October: FutureFIT

Audience: New career, Mid-Career, Pre-

Retirees

Focus: FutureFIT (continued)

Materials: Web messaging, video, fliers,

emails

Seminar: Investment Planning

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2016 year-end goals

The current participation rate for City of Foster City is approximately

79%. There are 40 eligible employees who have not yet actively

engaged the City of Foster City Retirement Plan.

▶ Goal: Deploy targeted campaigns toward the identified eligible

employees to encourage at least 10 to enroll in the plan

There is a need for financial plans to be composed for employees of

City of Foster City, however there may not be an awareness they are

available.

▶ Goal: Inform employees about availability of professional

financial assistance and complete at least 10 financial plans

An opportunity remains to increase the overall contributions

participants are deferring into the plan to help them plan for their

financial future.

▶ Goal: Increase total plan contribution by at least 1%

2016 Communication and Education Plan

City of Foster City