Fidelity Investments has launched a new video series to help pension plan participants better understand their benefits as part of their overall retirement plan. The videos are available to all workplace pension plan participants who log on to Fidelity's participant website, NetBenefits, under a section titled, "Pension Tools & Learning."
Videos answer questions such as, what is a pension plan versus a 401(k) plan, how do pension benefits grow and when can a participant initiate payments?
The site also offers summary plan descriptions so participants can understand their individual pension plan rules.
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The Pension Tools & Learning section is the latest in a series of upgrades Fidelity has incorporated into the education it delivers to help participants make more informed retirement decisions. Recently, Fidelity deployed newly trained phone representatives to assist workplace participants with retirement planning decisions and address their broader retirement needs. Last year, the company produced another educational video outlining the tax implications and advantages of the various pension payment options (annuity payments, lump sum payments or a combination of both).
"Fidelity has made significant investments in its platform to provide the guidance participants need to understand and appreciate their valuable benefits and incorporate them into their overall retirement planning," said Wendy Foster, senior vice president in Fidelity's defined benefit business.
The new video library was produced after a 2011 Fidelity study found that 71 percent of corporate pension plan participants surveyed did not have detailed knowledge of how their pension plans work and 61 percent have never inquired about how much money they will receive upon retirement.
"Our research found that many of today's workers need a fundamental education about their pensions before they can maximize this valuable benefit," said Foster. "After instruction on basic but critical concepts like vesting and retirement eligibility, our participants should be better equipped to engage with their pension plans and determine how their pension benefits fit into their retirement income strategy."
Fidelity Investments is one of the world's largest providers of financial services, with assets under administration of $3.4 trillion, including managed assets of $1.5 trillion, as of December 31, 2011.
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