Clark and Allen receive FINRA grant to study pre-retirement programs

Researchers aim to help employers develop effective retirement education programs for their employees

May 5, 2008 - Robert Clark and Steve Allen, professors of economics and management, innovation and entrepreneurship at the North Carolina State University College of Management, have been awarded a three-year $386,763 grant from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Investor Education Foundation.

The grant will fund a project in which the researchers will examine employer approaches to pre-retirement education and determine the most effective methods of assisting pre-retirees to gain the knowledge needed to make the best retirement decisions.

The project reflects Clark’s “strong interest in how people plan for retirement, the level of financial literacy among Americans, and how financial knowledge can be improved to enable individuals to achieve a higher standard of living in retirement," he said. “I am interested in assisting companies to develop and maintain pre-retirement planning programs that provide the greatest benefits to workers for each dollar spent on these programs.”

Working with corporate and institutional employer partners, Clark and Allen will observe pre-retirement education programs, examine their content, and review materials provided to program participants. 

Nine large employer partners representing diverse industry and geographic sectors have agreed to participate in the project. To measure the success of the pre-retirement programs, employees will receive a survey prior to the delivery of the program to gain baseline demographic and economic information. The participants will also indicate their current retirement goals and likely key retirement decisions.

At the conclusion of the program, participants will complete a second survey to determine if the information provided in the program has increased their financial literacy and altered their retirement plans and objectives. To further assess the success of these programs, the participants will receive a third survey approximately nine months after the program to determine what retirement decisions they actually made and whether the educational programs influence their retirement choices.

As part of this three-year project, the researchers will develop a series of papers targeted for HR leaders of large corporations, employer organizations, and other employer groups that describe and highlight effective educational programs for pre-retirees and an evaluation tool that employers can use to evaluate their own programs.  

- story by Brian Thomas, College of Management director of research development