Georgia County Government - October 2008 - (Page 107) BenefitNews GEBCorp Celebrates Eight Years of Retirement Benefits to Georgia Governments Emphasis on Outcomes GEBCorp is committed to helping every program participant understand what effort is needed from them to achieve their desired level of retirement income at their desired retirement date. For example: • Does each employee know how to estimate how much income they need in retirement compared to their salary just before retirement? • Does each employee understand how much of their retirement income will come from Social Security? • Does each employee understand how much additional retirement benefits are needed to be able to retire before normal retirement age? • Does each employee understand how to convert account balances in their 401(a) or 457(b) plans into monthly income? Focus on Management and Decision-Maker Awareness GEBCorp is committed to making sure management and elected officials in each jurisdiction understand what their retirement program provides. Without this foundation, they will be unable to objectively evaluate the success of their retirement program. Focus on Annual Employee Account Reviews With the support of management, GEBCorp is committed to meeting with every employee every year to review the progress each employee has made toward their retirement goals. Focus on Employee Participation Rates Unless employees actively participate in the 457(b) programs available to them, they will likely not be able to achieve their retirement income goals. Yet, in many counties, participation rates are much less than 50 percent. GEBCorp and management in each jurisdiction must do better. Focus on Effective Products and Services GEBCorp is committed to providing high-quality investment and plan administration products at competitive prices. What are the investment products that will be most beneficial to reaching each employee’s desired retirement benefit results? New investment options are created and sold every day by Wall Street, but many of them are simply new gimmicks or riding the latest investment “fad.” GEBCorp is careful to offer those products that can truly help employees reach their desired retirement goals. There are, however, exciting new investment options that will revolutionize employee retirement accounts: all-inone, diversified investments that are being called “target date” funds and “target risk” funds. Emphasis on Retirement Plans with Reasonable Employer Cost GEBCorp understands the fi nancial pressures faced by local governments today. While retirement benefits are an important part of recruiting and retaining quality employees, the costs of providing these benefits are continuously balanced against other priorities. In assisting local governments with Plan design and modifications, GEBCorp’s emphasis is always on balancing GEBCORP continued on page 108 OCTOBER 2008 www.accg.org By Steve Vaughn CEO, GEBCorp O n July 31, the Georgia Employee Benefits Corporation (GEBCorp) celebrated its eighth anniversary. GEBCorp now has responsibility for more than 40,000 employee accounts i n t he t hree Associat ion Cou nt y Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) retirement programs: the 401(a) Defined Contribution Program and the 457(b) Defer red Compensat ion Prog ra m and the longest-running program, the Defined Benefit Program. GEBCorp now is the retirement plan administrator, with 150 governments in 125 counties throughout Georgia. The Future GEBCorp Since its beginning in 2000, GEBCorp and its clients have gone through one full market cycle, with the burst of the technology bubble and large stock market declines in 2000 through 2002, and strong positive investment returns in 2003 through 2007. With the ups and downs so far in 2008, what can GEBCorp do in the future to help its clients achieve a solid and secure retirement? GEBCorp is committed to helping every program participant understand what effort is needed from them to achieve their desired level of retirement income at their desired retirement date. 107 http://www.accg.org
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