Part of the allure of strong employee benefit packages has to do with their guarantees. For instance, the promise of subsidized medical coverage isn't as worthwhile if certain common conditions or procedures aren't covered, and staff members won't be as pleased with that kind of insurance if they don't believe they're being fairly compensated.
This is especially troubling when it comes to retirement packages. Many workers are finding their 401(k) accounts or pensions aren't worth as much as they once believed. In fact, the 2012 Retirement Confidence Survey, which was conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, discovered over 70 percent of current employees expect that they'll have to continue working after retiring from their current careers to ensure they have some supplementary income.
The entire notion of retirement involves no longer working, so it is extremely disappointing for many employees to never have that period of rest and relaxation later in life. One important step employers can take to make their organizations and benefit packages a lot more alluring is to work harder to guarantee financially solvent retirements with the help of an employee benefit consultant.
One of the first steps an employee benefit specialist can take is to educate workers about their retirement funds. Many may not realize the tax requirements and rollover options they have with a 401(k) or IRA, and information is the most valuable weapon they have in the fight against post-retirement work.
Additionally, an employee benefit consultant can help to create the best retirement packages possible in the first place. This is especially important when most of a company's staff is middle aged or older, because those sorts of employees are most likely to be concerned with what their finances will look like when they're even older.
