Fidelity Releases Participant Education Tool

January 14, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Fidelity Investments has announced the release of a new employee education program, designed to provide individual plan participant forecasting and modeling scenarios.

First | PERSON tailors content and language to an individual plan participant’s life stage.   Included in this analysis is an “Annual Checkup,” which provides personal information and hypothetical recommendations for each 401(k) plan participant.   This personalized assessment utilizes asset liability modeling to run hundreds of simulations from historical rates of return to reflect potential market conditions.

The annual checkup, designed to provide a “holistic view” to plan participants of their personal finances, offers personal retirement savings scenarios based on an employee’s current salary and date of birth, which include:

  • Increasing contributions – compares an individual’s potential retirement savings at age 55 and 65 when contributing at the current rate and at an increased level for a company match
  • Adjusting asset allocation – charts an employee’s current allocation model portfolios to determine how the plan balance and income generated from that balance could vary based on the mix of stocks, bonds and short-term investments
  • Retiring later – illustrates how extending a retirement date by two years may be able to increase an individual’s income in retirement
  • Review of retirement income sources – provides a worksheet for considering many income sources that may cover expenses at retirement, including 401(k), Social Security, pension and other retirement investments, such as IRAs.

In addition, first | PERSON provides an opportunity for interactive education through Universal Web Workshops.   Delivered through the NetBenefits Web site, these facilitator-led courses will help plan participants to learn about topics including portfolio rebalancing and starting a retirement plan.

Currently, first | PERSON is available to Fidelity’s corporate clients and will be rolled out to a select group of tax-exempt employers for their 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plan participants this spring, according to the release.   Fidelity also will expand the program to integrate the multiple benefit plans it administers for clients, including pension, health, dental and other insurance programs and stock plans.

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