Key Takeaways
Participants bring their own history with money, risk, and security to the plan.
Today’s bills and obligations can make a decades-away payoff feel less urgent.
Retirement communications work better when they connect today’s action to the choices participants may have later, not just to a projected account balance.
Retirement security is hard to sell
Most financial decisions give people feedback. Retirement saving usually doesn’t. Participants are asked to set aside money today for a future version of themselves they may not picture clearly.
That tradeoff asks a lot. The person making the decision knows today’s rent, grocery bill, debt payments, and family obligations. The retiree who will live with the result is harder to see.
Three versions of every participant
Every retirement decision carries a participant’s past, present, and future with it.
Past self: The history behind the decision
No one arrives at a retirement plan with a blank slate. A participant who watched a parent lose a job may see cash as safety. Someone whose family never discussed investing may find the investment menu intimidating. A participant who entered the workforce during a strong bull market may think about risk differently from someone whose first 401(k) statement arrived during a selloff.
That’s one reason the same message can produce different reactions. “Stay invested” may reassure one participant and sound reckless to another. “Increase your contribution” may feel responsible to one person and unrealistic to someone else.
Reluctance often comes from experience. Sponsor communications don’t need to account for every participant’s history, but they should leave room for the fact that the same message may land differently with different people.
Present self: The person with the vote
The present self decides whether to increase a contribution, open the email, attend the webinar, or leave the account alone during a market decline. That same person also has bills to pay, kids to pick up, deadlines at work, and other financial priorities.
Retirement saving competes with whatever feels most urgent today. Even participants who know saving matters can struggle when a long-term goal runs into an immediate need.
More information may not solve that problem. Younger workers have grown up with financial content everywhere, yet Voya’s Gen Z research continues to show demand for guidance, clear next steps, and human reassurance around important financial decisions.1
Sometimes the best nudge is simple: A one-percent increase, a well-designed default, or a reminder that arrives while the decision is still actionable.
Future self: The person who lives with the result
The future self inherits the decisions made along the way: the early start, the missed years, the steady contributions, and the moments when emotions took over.
Participants may see a retirement projection without thinking much about what it represents. That number can matter more when it is tied to real-life choices: when to retire, whether to help family, how to handle a setback, or how much flexibility they may have when life doesn't go according to plan.
Retirement security means having choices
Participants often think about retirement in practical terms. Will they be able to retire when they want to? Help family when needed? Absorb a setback without starting over? Keep working because they choose to, not because they have to?
That’s where DC specialists have an opportunity to make retirement more tangible.
Voya’s Gen Z research found a generation that closely associates money with independence, control, and freedom.1 Many are already saving, but they’re also juggling housing costs, debt, and other priorities. Helping participants connect today’s savings decisions to the choices they may have later can make retirement feel more relevant now.
What DC specialists can do
The framework helps advisors look at participant communications through a more human lens. Does the message reflect what participants are carrying, what they can do now, and why the decision may matter later?
Before asking participants to act, it helps to understand what may be getting in the way.
Acknowledge where participants are starting
Participants bring their current reality to every retirement decision. Financial pressure, past experience, and near-term priorities all affect how a message lands.
A delayed response doesn’t always mean someone is disengaged. They may be stretched, distracted, or dealing with a more urgent financial need. Start from there, then give them one realistic next step.
Make today’s action smaller
Retirement may be decades away. The next step doesn’t have to feel that big.
A one-percentage-point contribution increase, a quick investment checkup, or a clearer explanation of the plan default can feel manageable. Specific steps are easier to take than a broad push to “get retirement ready.”
Show what the money is for
Participants may save more willingly when the future feels concrete, not theoretical. DC specialists can help plan sponsors bring that future closer by connecting retirement messages to moments participants can picture: the age they want to stop working, the family support they hope to provide, the flexibility they want later, or the tradeoffs they want to avoid.
Use managed solutions as a behavioral support
Professionally managed options, including target date funds, can give participants a diversified path without asking them to make every investment decision on their own.
A clear investment approach can also help reduce the urge to react to headlines, market swings, or short-term emotions.
A better retirement security conversation
National Retirement Security Month is a good moment to look past savings rates and readiness scores.
Participants bring different experiences, priorities, and financial pressures to every retirement decision. A better conversation starts there, then connects today’s choices to the options those choices may create later.
Make the future feel real
DC specialists can help participants see retirement as more than a date or account balance. A projection becomes more useful when it connects to real decisions: when to retire, whether to keep working, how to support family, or how much flexibility someone may have when life changes.
Voya Global Consulting works with advisors to strengthen participant and client conversations using behavioral insights and practical communication strategies. The past-present-future framework is one way to help participants see the link between the decision in front of them and the future they’re trying to build.
Contact your Voya representative to learn more about VGC or visit the VGC website.