ERISA 404(a) Participant Disclosure Regulation Resource Center - 8

Annual Disclosure

Providing annual disclosure to eligible participants
Action: After you have reviewed the

Newly Eligible
Disclosure

information and determined it meets your
requirements, use the Annual Disclosure
to help comply with the regulation by:

Quarterly
Disclosure

1. Printing copies to deliver to your
participants through regular mail or
your office mail system, or

Communicating
Changes

2. If you feel you meet the Department of Labor’s
electronic delivery requirements, you can:

Annual Disclosure available on the
website does not meet your obligation.
Likewise, posting the Annual Disclosure
in a common work area or break room
does not meet your obligation.

Action: Use the Value of the
Retirement Plan flier, along with the
Annual Disclosure, to help promote the
value of your plan to participants.

• Email the Annual Disclosure to your
participants.

ERISA 404(a)
participant disclosure
regulation overview

Create a disclosure
reference guide customized to
your plan anniversary date

Access participant
education materials

Frequently
asked questions

• Post the Annual Disclosure to another
website (for example, your organization’s
website) and send an email with a link
to the notice. Remember, if you save the
Annual Disclosure to another website, you
must update it each quarter and whenever
you make changes to the information
contained in the Annual Disclosure.
In September 2011, the DOL released
interim guidance regarding electronic
delivery of the participant disclosure
information. For more information, see
this Compliance News article.
iMPoRtAnt: To meet the regulation’s
requirements, you must actively notify
participants that the Annual Disclosure is
available on the website. Simply making the

Powerful. Beneﬁcial.
The Employer-Sponsored Retirement
Plan Available for You.
The enclosed document provides information intended to help you make informed
decisions about your participation in the employer-sponsored retirement plan.
And as you consider the features of the plan, you’ll ﬁnd it provides more than just
a simpler, consistent process to invest funds towards retirement.
Explore the Features – Enjoy the Potential Beneﬁts
With automatic salary deferrals, tax-deferred savings and a variety of investment options to choose from,
the employer-sponsored retirement plan is uniquely suited to help you build a solid savings strategy.
Participating in the plan means you can take advantage of the following beneﬁts:
• A simpler way to save. An employer-sponsored retirement plan is arguably one of the easiest and most
painless ways to save for retirement. Because the retirement plan contribution is automatically deducted from
your pay, you don’t have to make retirement savings part of your monthly budgeting and spending decisions.

« The Value of the

Retirement Plan flier:
– For plans with an
employer match

• Tax breaks. When your salary deferral contribution is taken out before taxes through payroll deduction,
your taxable income is reduced.
• Dollar-cost averaging. When you contribute a ﬁxed amount on a regular basis, you may beneﬁt from
“dollar-cost averaging.” This can be a consistent and affordable way for you to invest over the long term,
because you may buy more shares when the market is down, and fewer shares when the market is up.
• An employer match. Because you receive an employer match of your contributions up to a certain
percentage, you get additional money towards your retirement savings.
• The potential for growth. As you invest for the long term, retirement funds have the potential to work

– For plans without

for you over time through compound earnings. The account has the potential to grow by generating
earnings on both the original investment and reinvested earnings.

an employer match

notE: After your first Annual Disclosure, you
can provide subsequent annual disclosures
every twelve months. We will send you a
reminder annually of this responsibility.
notE: An optional mailing service for
your plan’s Annual Disclosure may be
available to you for an additional fee.
Contact a representative of The Principal
for more information.

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ERISA 404(a) Participant Disclosure Regulation Resource Center

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