It’s a significant move away from the traditional one-size-fits-all benefits philosophy. The new guidance tools address individual circumstances, help employees prioritize their needs, whether it’s healthcare or insurance protection or for some, retirement savings.
The goal is to help employees make better choices and reduce stress levels over financial problems. By removing a major source of stress, the thinking goes, employees will be able to better focus on their work and enhance their productivity.
Not every advisor in the retirement plans marketplace may be ready to stretch far enough to begin offering comprehensive employee benefits. They worry that their reach may exceed their grasp.
But other advisors have already begun to expand their practices in this direction. They see the opportunity to build closer relationships with employers and the advantages of helping them improve the effectiveness of their overall benefits packages.
Ultimately, the process of natural selection will win out. Advisors who adapt and meet a broader set of employer needs will have an advantage over those who don’t. And that advantage will extend not only to winning new business but taking away business from those who do not adapt.
E. Thomas Foster Jr. is assistant vice president, Strategy and Relationships, for MassMutual Retirement Services, a division of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.