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Dennis Ackley
Conference Speaking | Retirement Education | Benefit Communication
401k & 403b Plan Topics...click on title for PDF
 
Measuring What Matters
Retirement Education Needs to Define Success and Tap Into Motivation – Benefits & Compensation Digest, July 2008
   Until education measures matter, for most people...retirement is just not going to work.

The Knowledge Needed to Make 401(k) Retirement Plans Work – Employee Benefit News, December 2002
   Plan sponsors need measures to manage and evaluate education efforts.
 
Start Measuring What We Say 401(k) Retirement Plans Do – 401kHelpCenter, March 2002 
   Retirement education providers base success on creativity awards, not employees' success.
 
Measuring the Real Success of Retirement Education – Plansponsor Magazine, February 2002
   Success measures should track how well individuals are achieving their retirement dreams.
 
Contemporary Issues 
Employee Trust is Essential in 401(k)s and 403(b)s...But Sometimes Missing - Employee Benefit News, April 2008
   Without trust, even the greatest plan designs will fail to attract as many employees as possible.
 
Clear Participant 401k Fee Communication is Inevitable and Necessary – Investment News, October 2007
   The retirement industry needs a simple and transparent pricing structure.
 
The Pension Protection Act is Sweet: But Not for Retirement Dreams – 401kHelpCenter, December 2006 
   Automatic features will not accomplish what knowledgeable, motivated individuals can do.
 
When Will the Secret of 401(k)s be Exposed? – BenefitsLink, April 2002 
   Without measures, plan sponsors don't know if they are helping employees achieve personal retirement dreams.

Making Retirement Education Work
Buy Your Retirement Here! – Sharing Ideas – International Foundation for Retirement Education, February 2002
   Until retirement is put in consumer terms, for most employees, retirement simply isn’t going to work. 

Consumer Approach to Retirement Planning – Employee Benefit News, September 2000
   Most employees don’t know how much to save or how to invest because they don’t know how much they need.
 
Taking a Consumer Approach to Retirement Savings – WEB Network Newsletter, December 1999
   Most people have no idea how much their retirement will cost or how to go about buying it.
 
16 Ways to Boost Participation in Your 401(k) Plan – IOMA’s Report on Managing 401(k) Plans, October 1999
   Send a letter to every employee who is not contributing enough to get the maximum company contribution.
 
Retirement Education Needs to Make a Lot More Cents – Benefits Quarterly, First Quarter 1998
   Employees and employers can pay now by funding retirement plans—or someone else pays later.
 
Making Retirement Education Work – Employee Benefit News, November 1996
   Employees need to view retirement income as the largest purchase they will ever make.
 
   Most baby boomers may not have enough money during retirement to maintain their current standard of living.
   For more than 15 years, Dennis has shown the failings of retirement education...and how to improve it.
 
Resources and News Clips
PLANSPONSOR com, June 2004, Getting Participants to "Buy" Retirement 
Business Finance, November 1998, When Bad Things Happen to Good Plans