Did you know that it’s National Save for Retirement Week? The purpose of this designation is to bring national awareness to the importance of saving for retirement. ICMA’s vision in the late 1960s was to create a portable benefits plan for public sector employees. After nearly four years of effort, a grant from the Ford Foundation, and approval from the Internal Revenue Service, the ICMA Retirement Corporation (ICMA-RC) was established in 1972. Since then, ICMA-RC has grown into one of the nation’s 25 largest retirement plan administrators and focuses only on public sector retirement plans. Other financial services companies have created similar offerings to support public sector retirement security. 

Consider the goals for National Save for Retirement Week:

• Make employees more aware of how critical it is to save now for their financial future.
• Promote the benefits of getting started saving for retirement today.
• Encourage employees to take full advantage of their employer-sponsored plans by increasing their contributions.

Now take a look at these resources, which can help you achieve the retirement savings goals:

1. Starting today, ICMA-RC will be hosting a National Save for Retirement Week webinar series that covers several retirement-related topics.
2. The College Investor has established this guide for recent college graduates to get started on saving for retirement.
3. In 2014 PM magazine published this article outlining the current health of compensation packages in local government, why it is important for the next generation to have a plan, and steps to take to improve retirement plans.
4. If you are looking to revamp your organization’s retirement plan, check out the Denver Employee Retirement Plan (DERP). 
5. U.S. News & World Report published this blog post online, 5 career checkpoints on the road to retirement, to help you save in the beginning and middle of your career.
6. Do you know if you are ready for early retirement? This blog post outlines 5 indicators.
7. Forbes has 5 tips on how to save $1 million for your retirement.  The first tip is to start early!

What tips do you have about saving for retirement?  How are you making your employees aware of the importance of saving for retirement?  Share your comments below.

Douglas Shontz

Knowledge Network Intern