| Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) How One Employer Provides Objective Plan Information to Their Employees | |
| Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) in Rockville, Maryland is a large public schools system outside of Washington, DC. Like a lot of 403(b) plan sponsors, they have wrestled with how best to provide and pay for objective information for their employees. They think they may have found a solution. Here is their story... | |
| Historically, when it comes to public 403(b) plans, there has been little to no objective plan information provided. "Education" has typically been furnished by vendor representatives. Some of it has been good. Some of it has been poor. Little of it has been objective. Compounding the education challenge is the fact that employees are often spread across numerous work sites working 24-hours a day. Providing seminars and access to independent financial advisors is simply not realistic logistically or financially. Recognizing these challenges, MCPS turned to 403(b)wise. They asked us to create a customized, web-based education portal containing 403(b) and 457(b) plan information, investment information and references, online calculators, vendor contact information, and most importantly from a benefits office work-flow perspective, the ability to access and download all plan forms. You can see screenshots of the results at yourplan.info/sample.html. How was the Portal funded? As part of the Request for Proposal (RFP) process, MCPS asked winning vendors to help fund the project. The companies were charged a nominal fee on a pro-rata basis (assets under management). While MCPS employees now have 24/7 access to objective plan information and forms, vendors have an employer created site listing their services, forms and contact information. For more information on the Portal, see yourplan.info. | |
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