Nationwide is Helping America Prepare for and Live in Retirement

The United States Conference of Mayors is proud to partner with Nationwide. As the endorsed sponsor administering 457(b) and 401(a) defined contribution plans, Nationwide can help your city employees save with confidence.

For more than 35 years, Nationwide has been a platinum partner of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, supporting local communities across the country and helping city employees successfully prepare for retirement. As a U.S. Based Mutual Company, Nationwide is one of the most progressive and caring corporate citizens in the country. They have the proven experience, financial strength, corporate integrity and public sector focus that serves our city governments and workforce best.

“I encourage you to review the resources, tools and services of Nationwide Retirement Solutions outlined in this brochure. The information offered here can help provide your city employees with sound financial strategies no matter where they are in the process,” says Tom Cochran, CEO and Executive Director, The U.S. Conference of Mayors.


Nationwide Capabilities Brochure
To learn more about how Nationwide can help your city employees achieve their retirement goals or the services we offer, contact:

Andy Pierce
Endorsement Partner Manager-USCM
614-306-3286
piera69@nationwide.com

Why Nationwide®

Nationwide goes above and beyond to do the right thing at the right time so participants get better experiences and you get a better partner. Nationwide delivers on their commitment to be an experienced partner through a values-driven culture dedicated to providing you with plan expertise, leading best practices and a sharp focus on retirement readiness. See what Nationwide is doing to help improve participant retirement outcomes.

Secure 2.0 Act of 2022 – New Provisions To Help American Workers

Advocacy for American Workers Results in New Retirement Savings Rules

By Eric Stevenson, President of Nationwide Retirement Solutions

Working Americans got a welcome gift from Congress at year-end with the passage of the 2023 omnibus spending bill. Included in the final bill are several provisions that will impact retirement savers and retirement plan sponsors. These provisions are a part of the formalized legislation titled “SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022”.

This news could not have come at a better time for 401(k), 457 and 403b plan participants. Many people and families are struggling with financial pressures right now as rampant inflation raised prices for nearly everything in the past year. These pressures coincided with renewed market volatility in 2022, leading to a big increase in retirement  savers’ “negative behaviors” which can threaten long-term security.

We have seen first-hand how America’s workers reacted to these rising financial pressures. Over the last 18 months, one in ten 401(k) plan participants have either reduced or stopped plan contributions.1 Among our 457 plans for government workers, we’ve also seen an increase in “negative behaviors” which can threaten long-term retirement security.  For example, contribution decreases are up 31%, contribution stops are up 17% and withdrawals due to unforeseen emergencies are up 25% year over year2.

This shift in behavior is a sign that many workers need help. We know there are many Americans who lack adequate savings, not only for retirement but also for emergencies or surprise expenses. A survey from the Nationwide Retirement Institute® in 2022 found that 42% of working families couldn’t cover a $1,000 expense if necessary.

The new retirement plan provisions in the recently passed spending bill offer savings solutions for working Americans. This legislation helps ease the choice many workers face between saving for the future and covering unexpected expenses today. Participants will be able to tap their retirement savings without penalty for emergency spending needs, one distribution of up to $1,000 in a calendar year. This provision will help make participating in a workplace retirement plan more attractive for more Americans, as many people want access to their savings in case of emergencies.

Other provisions included in the spending bill aim to make it easier for employers to offer and promote retirement savings benefits to their employees. For example, a new student loan matching opportunity is designed to help younger workers balance the competing financial choices of paying off education debt versus saving for their future. Employers will also see better financial support for starting workplace retirement plans and easing rules for enrolling part-time workers.

As workers continue to cope with financial pressures on many fronts, those of us in the financial services and retirement planning community need to re-engage Americans with the importance of retirement saving. Nationwide has been an active supporter for many years to promote legislative changes that make it easier for Americans to save for their future. We applaud the bipartisan team of Congressional legislators that helped to bring these proposals to law for the millions of workers who will benefits from these changes.

It’s gratifying to see these efforts come to fruition with the inclusion of these retirement regulation changes in the recently passed spending bill. We look forward to helping more American workers and employers take advantage of these new rules to help improve their future financial security.

Turn to Nationwide to stay up-to-date on the latest news about SECURE 2.0 and other retirement plan legislation. We can help you and your plan sponsor clients understand the impact of regulatory changes on plan design and plan participants.

Sources/Disclaimer

  1. Nationwide Retirement Institute Inflation Flash Poll, Feb. 2022
  2. Nationwide Retirement Solutions participant data, May 2021-May 2022

Nationwide Earns Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality

For More Information

Louie Watson
P: 614-477-8083
E: lwatson@usmayors.org

Kathryn Kretschmer- Weyland
P: 202-302-6944
E: kweyland@usmayors.org

Nationwide Retirement Specialist Spotlight

At Nationwide we go above and beyond to do the right thing at the right time, so participants get better experiences and you get a better partner.  Our valued partnership with USCM helps provide retirement solutions for America’s workers.  Through this partnership, we’ve served over 418,000 USCM participants and retirees.

Our Retirement Specialists work hard every day to ensure participants have all the support they need to stay on top of their retirement planning and are prepared for retirement.  Retirement Specialist, Elaine Smith has been with Nationwide for 26 years, serving the public sector for 5 years.  Elaine supports the city of Birmingham, Alabama, Jefferson county, and several municipalities within the city. Elaine was recently recognized by the City of Birmingham, HR department, to thank her for consistent “On Your Side” experiences for the City and employees.  When we spoke to Elaine about this recognition, Elaine said “It is not just me, it’s the company as a whole.  When you see me, you see the company, and that’s what we do.”¹

As a Retirement Specialist for Nationwide, Elaine has built several relationships and partnerships within the City of Birmingham. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Elaine visited the city every day, meeting with the City of Birmingham employees to make sure they were receiving retirement readiness education, tools and resources.  She met with the Pension department to make sure they had enough business cards, so that when retirement packages are mailed out, her contact information would be included to help employees with whatever they needed. Elaine mentioned that she is at the city so often that most employees think that she has an office there.

At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic a year ago, Elaine began virtually meeting with City of Birmingham participants every day.   She wanted to make sure she continued to connect with city participants- especially retirees and employees who were getting ready to retire so that she could help them with their transition. Elaine still wanted to be that partner and that teammate that city participants were used to seeing on a daily basis.

The pandemic has changed many lives and has brought about long-term financial impact.  The City of Birmingham has seen an influx of retirees, and many city participants needing support with transitioning to retirement.  Elaine continues to meet with city participants virtually and by phone every day.  She is currently leading virtual employee orientations, retirement consultations, and supporting retirement planning.  Elaine is happy that she can continue to meet with participants virtually, but she is looking forward to the day when she can meet with City of Birmingham employees in person again.

Additional Resources

Cyber Security

We take a number of steps to protect your accounts and personal information. But there are a number of steps you can take to stay safe online, too.  Click here to learn how.

Nationwide has collected best practices to help protect your retirement savings, including:

  • How to create a strong password
  • How to be secure and wary online
  • How to shop carefully and know who to trust
  • What to do if you’ve been hacked

Take note of these online safety tips:

  • Make passwords long and strong
  • Use a unique password for each account
  • Keep a clean machine
  • Automate software updates
  • Enable a firewall
  • Limit the use of administrator accounts
  • Be careful about sharing personal information on social media

Visit our cybersecurity page to see how Nationwide defends participant data.

Nationwide Retirement Institute

We proactively seek to provide the thought leadership, tools and technology you need to give participants the information they need.

Through the Nationwide Retirement Institute®, we provide education, tools and consultative support that can help participants achieve their retirement goals.

Our resource focus on special topics such as:

  • Social Security benefits
  • Health care
  • Long-term care
  • Health savings accounts
  • Women and retirement

The Nationwide Retirement Institute helps participants prepare for their future through timely insights about retirement topics and financial planning.

Retirement Planning Tools and Resources

Nationwide’s My Interactive Retirement Planner℠ tool helps you see how your financial decisions, assets and planning may affect your long-term future. When you use the tool, you’ll see your personal Retirement Readiness meter when you first log into their account. Within a few minutes, you’ll have answers that can help you decide what you can do to improve your retirement readiness. Also included in My Interactive Retirement Planner℠ is the opportunity to identify or estimate pension plan and Social Security benefits using the Pension and Social Security Estimator Tools.

Check out the My Interactive Retirement Planner tool here

Tools and Calculators to support retirement readiness

Nationwide offers tools and calculators to help you feel more confident about investing for your financial future including.  Here’s a few examples:

Check out these and more tools and calculators here

Nationwide Retirement Solutions Resource Center

Be sure to take advantage of all of the resources, on-demand education, videos, and more that will help you to prepare for retirement.  Check out these resources here.

Remember Nationwide is on your side!

Nationwide, the Nationwide N and Eagle, My Interactive Retirement Planner, and Nationwide is on your side are service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.

NRM-19817AO (05/2022)