If you have been in the retirement business for a while, you know the industry constantly changes. At times, those changes cause plan sponsors and their advisors to shift focus in order to improve their plans. From fiduciary, funds and fees to savings and participation rates, there have been plenty of important issues to address.

Certainly, those issues have been and continue to be very important, but what is the real purpose you and your clients should be striving for? The spotlight is now on outcomes, commonly referred to as retirement readiness. That’s great progress, in my opinion.

We’re seeing how simple changes in plan design can make a tremendous difference in plan participants’ levels of retirement readiness. To help get participants on track, we generally recommend:

• Automatic enrollment with at least 6% elective deferral

• Automatic escalation of at least 1% per year up to 10%

• Sweeping all existing employees into the plan at least one time at the default deferral rate

• Stretching the match by using a formula that incents employees to defer at higher levels in order to get the full employer match

• Using an asset allocation option as the qualified default investment alternative (QDIA)

This shift to a focus on retirement readiness offers you a great opportunity. After all, a lot of financial professionals still focus primarily on investment strategies and due diligence. Setting yourself up as the results-focused, retirement readiness expert could be a powerful way to differentiate yourself from your competition.