Monroe County, N.Y., officials are making sure retirement planning is a top priority for all employees, not just those nearing the end of their careers. Recognizing that, for most workers, retirement security is built one pay period at a time, the county organized a campaign during National Save for Retirement Week in October to encourage employees to save more.

For most state and local government employees, at least some retirement saving is mandatory. Because Monroe County participates in the New York State Employees Retirement System, certain employees have a mandatory 3 percent pre-tax deduction applied to a retirement account for up to 10 years.

Research has shown, however, that income from pensions and Social Security may not be enough for retirees who are now living longer and paying more in health care costs than ever before. So, the county offers a deferred compensation plan that all employees can use to save and invest pre-tax earnings for use in retirement. The county contracts with Washington-based ICMA-RC as its sole supplemental retirement plan provider. Plan participants can make contributions to and withdrawals from their accounts, and view all of their retirement savings, investment, banking, and credit card accounts, through a single, secure Web page online.

To emphasize the importance of saving for retirement to employees, Monroe County decided to participate in National Save for Retirement Week Oct. 21-27 this year. Congress created the week in October 2006. “Pre-tax investing is one of the most valuable benefits available to our employees, but too few participate,” says Brayton Connard, chairman of the county's Deferred Compensation Plan. “Overcoming inertia is the biggest obstacle. Employees know they should start saving for retirement ‘someday.’ National Save for Retirement Week helps turn ‘some day’ into ‘today.’”

During the week, the county held two “Save for Your Future” lunch-and-learn series at its Conference Center. The program included workshops on financial planning, investing basics and the county's deferred compensation plan. Employees also had several opportunities to participate in question-and-answer sessions and try their hand at a few retirement trivia challenges.

Although only about 85 employees participated in the workshops, Monroe County officials deemed their campaign a successful one. As a result of the campaign, several employees enrolled in the county's plan for the first time. Many more increased deferrals, updated their beneficiaries, and rebalanced or reallocated their existing fund lineups. “Our goal was to begin the process of raising awareness of the need to save for retirement,” Connard says. “We were pleased with the results and feel that we achieved our goal for 2007.”

Project: Retirement planning

Jurisdiction: Monroe County, N.Y.

Agency: Human Resources

Vendors: Washington-based ICMA-RC

Date: October 2007