Prince George’s County Government

PLANSPONSOR: Please cite any noteworthy initiatives you have taken in the past 24 to 36 months that have produced results to improve your plan, and describe the results.

Prince George’s County: To empower county employees to save more for retirement, in 2022, Prince George’s County made the strategic decision to move to a single recordkeeper for its 457(b) and 401(a) plans. Previously, the county’s 457(b) plan was managed by multiple service providers, often with different investment lineup offerings. The process was entirely paper-based, cumbersome and disjointed. It was not until a consultant was hired to review the plans that a more streamlined path forward was explored.

Prince George’s County prioritized modernization to deliver a better retirement experience for participants. It moved to a more transparent fee model that is easily understood by plan participants; restructured the investment lineup to ensure lower costs and greater clarity for participants; and introduced the ability to make Roth contributions, providing more tax-efficient savings opportunities.

In May 2024, the county implemented online enrollment, deferral recordkeeping and percentage-based contributions. This project eliminated the paper-intensive processes of the past and resolved HRIS system limitations that previously allowed only dollar-amount deferrals.

Understanding the importance of financial education and personalized advice, Prince George’s County introduced several new resources in July 2024. Participants gained access to fiduciary advice on investment selection, savings strategies and comprehensive financial planning. The county delivered a multimedia engagement strategy that included personalized email campaigns, updating the participant microsite, including messaging on statements, adding post-login notifications and conducting a series of seminars to educate participants on the new resources available to them.

By improving indicative data collection and transmission, the county is now able to send targeted messaging to participants across a variety of channels, which is personalized based on an individual’s specific situation and needs—and is focused on driving action and results.

Between June 2024 and November 2024, 218 new participants enrolled in the plan. The average deferral rate increased to 6.7% from 6.6%. The percentage of participants on track to meet their retirement goals rose to 8.3% in October 2024 from 7% in June 2024.

PLANSPONSOR: What challenges do you face in plan administration or participant engagement?

Prince George’s County: As a public employer, we offer a state-sponsored pension plan, as well as a county-sponsored supplemental pension for our civilian employees. The biggest challenge is encouraging our lower-salaried employees to save more toward retirement. To achieve this, we meet these employees where they are. Our recordkeeper representatives have been going to work sites to schedule one-on-one appointments. The benefit of one provider is that the plan advisers now have access to salary data and are able to show how pensions, along with savings in the 457(b) plan, will enable employees to retire with dignity, if not comfortably.

This year, for our Plan Sponsor of the Year profiles, we are publishing Q&As based on the finalists’ applications and nominator comments. Responses are edited and may be paraphrased. In cases where the finalist self-nominated or, on its application, referred judges to the nomination for the answer, we have attributed those nominator answers to the plan sponsor.