Do you offer retirement planning as part of your small business employee benefit package? If not, you may be in danger of losing good workers to your competitors who do. According to a survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, retirement savings plans were offered by 67 percent of employers in 2018. Within the companies offering this benefit, 79 percent of employees participated.
RewardExpert recently spoke with Joseph Mrozek, vice president and national sales manager for Lincoln Financial Group’s retirement plan services, about why a retirement savings plan is an important employee benefit and why employers should choose Lincoln Financial Group to provide it.
A Legacy of Dependability and Honesty
vice president and
national sales
manager for LFG’s
retirement plan
services
Lincoln Financial Group was founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1905 by a group of business leaders who wanted to create an insurance company based on dependability, honesty and service.
“It has been around now for well over 100 years,” Mrozek said. “It’s the first and only company in the world that freely carries Abraham Lincoln’s name, image and ideals as its heart and brand.”
Since its creation, Lincoln Financial Group has grown to offer more than just insurance policies for individuals. The company now provides advice and solutions to millions of customers who trust Lincoln Financial Group’s retirement, insurance and wealth protection expertise.
“Life insurance is our oldest product,” Mrozek added. “But we also sell annuities, group benefits, and retirement plans to everyone from small business owners to large corporations.”
Retirement Plan = Retirement Success
Mrozek said that helping average Americans to “retire with dignity” is one of Lincoln Financial Group’s largest goals.
“How does one do this?” he asked. “The answer is preparation. You don’t wake up at 62 and say, ‘today’s the day.’ You need to get going on it as soon as possible. If you have a retirement plan, you have a greater probability of achieving retirement success.”
Mrozek noted that Lincoln Financial Group works with financial professionals to “engage meaningfully with the average American small business owner and provide a retirement plan so that they can grow their assets throughout their work career and beyond.”
He said that the company does this by selling solutions rather than products. “We look at everything through the lens of our client,” Mrozek continued. “We have a high-touch and high-tech service model that enables us to be there every step of the way through multiple channels to engage with retirement plan sponsors and participants. That makes us very unique.”
He added that though Lincoln Financial Group invests heavily in top-notch technology, the company strives to maintain a human touch. “We know that finance is a very personal issue to a lot of people,” Mrozek said. “People don’t always want to just go to a website to find an answer, they want to talk to a person.”
Improve Employee Retention and Lives
Mrozek said that small business owners who offer retirement savings benefits to their workers enjoy greater employee retention. “In a super competitive job environment, having the best benefits package you can offer is highly important,” he explained.
But employer-provided retirement planning is about more than just keeping your best employees around longer. It’s also about having a positive impact on their lives.
“Employee retention is critical, but if you think about it, you’re ultimately talking about someone’s life and how best to prepare them for it,” Mrozek continued. “Their chance of future retirement success improves a thousand-fold when they have a retirement plan in place with a financial professional.”
He noted that working with Lincoln Financial Group to provide retirement planning benefits to employees is simple. “We’re going to put a plan together for you,” Mrozek added. “We’re going to execute on that plan. We’re going to get your employees to save because we’re going to stay in front of them and incentivize the right behaviors. That’s what it really comes down to.”
Learn more about Lincoln Financial Group’s retirement planning and benefits solutions for small businesses at https://www.lfg.com/public/employersorganizations.