Mr. Technology, meet Mr. 401(k) Plan. Try some of these suggestions for putting your 401(k) plan on the technology bandwagon:
- Phone or web enrollment
. If you haven’t already, this is becoming the standard in plan enrollment. The efficiencies gained by not handling a piece of paper are significant and the legal community has warmed to the idea also. These days, the economies of scale have made it so that you re not too small to have this technology.
- Put information on the company Web site
. If you have a corporate intranet, this is a perfect place to put plan documents, investment return information, notices of educational meetings, etc.
- Interactive for the people
. Many administrators are now providing retirement projection software for employees to take home and tool around with on their home computer. These same programs can be uploaded to company intranets as well.
- Online account tracking.
With PIN and Social Security Number in hand, employees can daily track their account balance, make fund transfers and request plan information. Large mutual fund managers like Fidelity have paved the way in this technology, with many to follow.
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