Thrift savings plan targets retirement messages to younger generation

EBN’s annual i-COMM Awards recognize the best in internal communication of benefits. In this four-part series, we highlight this year’s winners, including the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, winner of Best Use of Social Media.

The importance of retirement readiness doesn’t just weigh on the minds of policymakers inside the Beltway. It also extends to the federal workforce.

FRTIB’s “Take FIVE for Your Future” campaign encouraged federal civilian employees and uniformed services members to increase their retirement contributions. The message was simple: Contribute at least 5% of earnings to get the full agency match. A thrift savings plan is offered to more than 4.6 million participants across the federal workforce as an opportunity to bolster their retirement security.

The philosophical mission is to help these individuals retire with dignity by targeting mostly younger groups that have historically saved less for their retirements. And here’s why: Federal Employees Retirement System participants in their 20s and 30s contributed only about half as much as those in their 50s on average in 2012. Another critical difference is that participants younger than age 30 were more heavily invested in low-return Treasury securities than any other age group except those over 60.

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FRTIB tailored communications to the preferences of each age group. For example, market research indicated that plan participants between 18 and 34 were most receptive to short paper-based communications with a digital link for more information, whereas those ages 35 to 44 felt something was being hidden if the material was too brief.

In order to identify participants who were contributing less than 5% of their salaries, FRTIB mailed about 135,000 postcards directing those younger than 35 to an interactive microsite for more information and 175,000 longer leaflets for those ages 35 to 44. In addition, a website was developed featuring high-impact graphics and innovative parallax scrolling to follow a sample young employee as retirement savings increased.

Other tactics included a YouTube video featured prominently on the microsite and the TSP homepage, as well as weekly blogs on GovLoop.com, a government networking site with 100,000-plus members. Social media such as Twitter, employee sites and HR Listservs, also promoted the outreach alongside posters that were displayed in civilian agencies.

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Surveys indicate that 19% of employees who have seen the campaign plan to increase their retirement contributions, while another 15% said they will change the way their account is invested. There also were numerous comments from young participants lauding the campaign’s “simple” and “clear” message. While 310,000 people were initially targeted, the campaign actually reached an estimated 3.7 million individuals.

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“Given the social nature of our outreach, we appreciated the immediate and unfiltered feedback we received from our participants,” says Beth Perry, FRTIB’s communications specialist, who worked closely on the project with designer Krista Sharp. “This insight was invaluable, and it showed us that we were connecting with our audience.”

Bruce Shutan is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer.