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Warren Cormier
By Warren Cormier | 4/17/2019
In response to the fact that a significant proportion of American households would be placed in financial crisis if they had an unexpected expense of even $400, the payroll deduction emergency savings account concept was born.
To gauge the consumer appeal of a payroll deduction into such an...
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By Warren Cormier | 1/17/2019
When it comes to investing for retirement, a frequently asked question is, “How do defined contribution plan participants make decisions regarding their investment elections?” Very often, participants do not possess the technical skills to assess the appropriateness of an investment for their DC...
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By Warren Cormier | 9/12/2018
Everyone in the DC industry knows that productivity and stress are frequently discussed topics. In fact, it is one of the strongest rationales for offering financial wellness programs. The logic is that workers who are feeling stress are distracted, less productive and less healthy.
And financial...
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By Warren Cormier | 5/17/2018
Innovations in automation have helped mitigate many of the factors that are slowing participants’ journey to retirement readiness. Automatic enrollment has helped with non-participation; automatic deferral increase has raised contribution rates; target date funds have given participants an easy...
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By Warren Cormier | 11/30/2017
For years we have heard about the uncovered worker and pondered what we can do to help them save for a successful retirement. In fact, the proportion of workers not covered by the DC system is its major flaw. Additionally, in the past year we have seen a great deal attention focused on a...
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By Warren Cormier | 4/19/2017
As the DC industry moves increasingly to a technology-centric advice and service solution, it becomes helpful to understand DC participants’ view of robo-advice services.So in collaboration with EMI Communications of Boston, I conducted a survey of 762 DC participants on their attitudes toward robo...
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By Warren Cormier | 3/16/2017
For years, the retirement industry has been trying to assess peoples’ investment risk tolerance using a variety of methods. However, these methods often have proven to be ineffective at assessing risk, and have instead both heightened investor anxiety and negatively impacted the usefulness of an...
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By Warren Cormier | 4/11/2014
In a white paper published by Arnerich Massena, Inc. in March 2014, the authors review a variety of research studies that look at the investment returns of DC participants’ accounts compared with the returns of index funds, market returns, committee- or trustee-directed defined benefit accounts and...
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By Warren Cormier | 2/22/2014
In a recent article in Forbes, Dr. Jeffrey Brown addresses an important point about the focus of 401(k) plans being ultimately on spending capacity throughout retirement. I have written before about the DC industry being extremely efficient in the asset accumulation phase. When it comes to the...
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By Warren Cormier | 1/15/2014
Every day we find new factors that are affecting participants’ decisions regarding their retirement confidence, savings behavior and worklife. A common theme is that perception is more important than reality. Behavioral economists frequently talk of effects of “framing,” “anchoring” and “subjective...
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By Warren Cormier | 12/23/2013
I recently had the opportunity to speak with Ted Benna, the co-creator of the 401(k), to get his perspective on the future of DC plans and how participants can maximize their retirement readiness. By definition, Ted has the longest ranging perspective on the evolution of the 401(k) plan, as well as...
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By Warren Cormier | 12/6/2013
In its 2013 annual report on advisors’ satisfaction and loyalty with record keepers, DCP and Boston Research Group identified the factors that matter most to advisors when deciding where to place business. Though there are a variety of factors, the wholesaler emerges as playing a dominant role. No...
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By Warren Cormier | 8/14/2013
Ready, or not?A phrase that’s heard with increasing frequency in both the defined contribution and HR worlds is “retirement readiness.” In the 2012 Defined Contribution Participant (DCP) Plan Sponsor survey of 2,800 comp and benefits directors, for example, 82% said they feel it is their “...
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By Warren Cormier | 8/5/2013
In the 2013 edition of the DCP Online Survey of 7,000 active DC participants, published in June, we focused on the behavior and attitudes of Job Changers — defined as active participants in DC plans who changed a full-time job in the past three years. To understand the magnitude of the orphaned...
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By Warren Cormier | 7/2/2013
Since 2000, the Boston Research Group’s DCP studies have been measuring plan sponsors’ loyalty and satisfaction with their record keepers and advisors (i.e., providers). The Number 1 driver of overall satisfaction is the provider’s ability to demonstrate that the value they deliver is well worth...
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By Warren Cormier | 7/1/2013
Since 2000, the Boston Research Group’s DCP studies have been measuring plan sponsors’ loyalty and satisfaction with their record keepers and advisors (i.e., providers). The Number 1 driver of overall satisfaction is the provider’s ability to demonstrate that the value they deliver is well worth...
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By Warren Cormier | 6/13/2013
As a researcher, I am frequently asked this question by record keepers and advisors. The question arises from a hypothesis that people who work for not-for-profit organizations have a different view of the world. That is, they are more mission-driven and more sensitive to organizational values, and...
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By Warren Cormier | 6/6/2013
Speaking with plan sponsors and record keepers across the DC industry, one would conclude that the much-anticipated fee disclosure to participants was a non-event. Some likened it to the Y2K of the DC industry. The just-completed Boston Research Group annual national survey of 7,000 active DC...
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