Retirement investment firm T. Rowe Price has launched a new, patent-pending framework to help 401(k) plan sponsors evaluate retirement income offerings and quantify which solutions may best fit the individual needs and preferences of their plan participants.

"Much of the retirement income research conducted to date focuses on identifying participant preferences, for example, 'I want a guaranteed stream of income.' However, it fails to consider the other side of the ledger, 'I am willing to give up X% in monthly income' to achieve that preference," said Jessica Sclafani, Global Retirement Strategist at T. Rowe Price.

T. Rowe Price's research team collaborated on developing the framework, recognizing that the industry lacked a common, unbiased method to help plan sponsors evaluate the growing universe of retirement income products. T. Rowe Price's 5-dimensional (5-D) framework offers DC plan sponsors a standard language to understand how different retirement income products require tradeoffs to meet specific plan participant objectives, at no extra cost.