Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Except: Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson
When employees put away money for retirement, it's good for them -- and for the companies, which benefit from higher productivity when workers are financially secure. So Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson and the Itasca Project are focusing on financial literacy and hoping to increase participation in retirement plans.
More than 20 of Minnesota's big employers have pledged to increase retirement plan participation among their employees. The hope: that improving financial literacy and security among employees will be beneficial to everyone -- including the employers.
The initiative, to be announced today, was created by the Itasca Project, an alliance of more than 40 Minnesota chief executives and elected officials dedicated to addressing economic and quality-of-life issues in the state.
For more than a year, the group has been laboring over how to make its imprint on improving financial literacy. Its answer, which Itasca is calling Financially Fit Minnesota, includes having Travelers Companies, Best Buy, Supervalu, Deluxe Corp., HealthPartners, and Pentair change their retirement savings programs so eligible employees are automatically enrolled.
The idea is to make it harder for workers to pass up free matching money in their 401(k) plans. Companies are targeting workers who don't typically save, such as young employees and hourly workers.
Source: Star Tribune