With Americans More Online Than Ever, It’s Time to Finalize Electronic Delivery of Retirement Plan Statements

At a time when much of the country has moved their personal, professional and educational lives online, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) final rule on electronic disclosures has been delivered to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. So close to the finish line, the time is ripe to finalize and implement the rule.

These proposed rules published late last year would expand electronic delivery options for required retirement plan disclosures to participants and beneficiaries. This long overdue modernization effort is even more urgent against the backdrop of a global pandemic that is forcing most Americans to stay home.

The industry has long supported the commonsense and environmentally-friendly move to digital delivery, which is consistent with the way many Americans want to receive information, though paper statements will remain an option. Participants of all ages and incomes increasingly prefer to access information online and believe that doing so makes it easier to act on the information. Current circumstance only magnifies this preference.

The DOL’s proposed rules also provide retirement plan administrators with much-needed flexibility in how best to deliver required plan disclosures. This flexibility would be welcome respite for employers who long-before COVID-19 struggled with antiquated rules restricting their ability to provide plan information through electronic means.

The need to print, pack and mail disclosure statements raise serious logistical and health concerns in our current social-distancing world; why should companies be required to put their people at risk by having them mail statements that can easily be emailed virtually risk-free?

The overall move to digital delivery is neither new, nor limited to personal financial statements. From health to tax to federal retirement plans such as the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), the trend to move away from paper-statements is undeniable and for good reason.

Delivering statements electronically provides participants with constant and up-to-date access to information about their retirement benefits along with other online tools that can assist with retirement planning.

The interactive nature of electronic access via links and embedded information makes participant action and engagement easier and more likely to occur. Studies have found that 401(k) participants who interact with their plan’s website tend to have higher contribution rates.

It is important to note that paper statements remain an option for anyone who prefers to continue to receive paper statements or for those without reliable internet access. Fortunately, the number of Americans without access to the internet continues to decline – down 30% from 2016 to 2018, according to a new FCC report. This same report found 85% of Americans now have access to fixed broadband.

Workers and employers of all types, students, teachers and extended families are increasingly leveraging all electronic opportunities available to continue to maintain productive educational, personal and professional lives.

COVID-19 has swept away many of the artificial barriers to moving more of our lives online.  With Americans more engaged digitally than ever, the time to finalize electronic delivery is now.

Lisa Bleier is Managing Director and Associate General Counsel, Federal Government Relations at SIFMA. In this capacity, she supervises and coordinates SIFMA’s outreach to members of Congress and government regulators on retirement and senior investor matters.