Employer Update

We're now two years into a global pandemic that has dealt savings setbacks to many workers and families. 2022 is the year – and America Saves Week (February 21-25) is the week – to emphasize the importance of building financial resilience in the face of continuing economic headwinds.

America Saves Week is a national call to action that encourages people “to do a financial check-in to get a clear view of their finances.” Each day has a theme that centers on one of five components of financial wellness:

• Save Automatically (Monday, February 21).
• Save for the Unexpected (Tuesday, February 22).
• Save for Retirement (Wednesday, February 23).
• Save by Reducing Debt (Thursday, February 24).
• Save as a Family (Friday, February 25).

The amount of funds needed in retirement depends on many factors including health care, living expenses and lifestyle goals. Saving early – and making it automatic through a payroll deduction – can go a long way toward meeting those goals.

Plans such as the Commonwealth of Virginia 457 Deferred Compensation Plan, a 403(b) plan or another supplemental savings plan you may offer have advantages for employees as they prepare for the future. If you do not offer a supplemental savings plan, consider adopting the COV 457 Plan.

The Hybrid 457 Deferred Compensation Plan also provides additional pre-tax retirement savings opportunities for Hybrid Retirement Plan employees, especially when they maximize voluntary contributions and receive the employer match.

Check out americasavesweek.org for additional resources and a digital toolkit to help you promote savings among employees.

myVRS Financial Wellness offers tips, tools and time-savers: A great place for members to get a holistic view of their personal finances is through this free award-winning program. Self-paced and easy to use, myVRS Financial Wellness includes articles, videos, calculators, educational games, budgeting tools, webinars and courses, all designed to help users grow their knowledge and confidence in everyday financial decision-making.

Visit and use ready-made materials in our myVRS toolkit to share with your employees in emails, newsletters and your intranet.

Members can tap into personalized features and tools through their secure myVRS accounts. Encourage them to register if they haven't already. In addition to myVRS Financial Wellness, they can access a pair of powerful future-focused tools – the myVRS Retirement Planner and the myVRS Benefit Estimator.

Certified Financial Planning services: VRS members now have access to Certified Financial Planning Services provided through MissionSquare Retirement, the third-party record keeper for VRS Defined Contribution Plans.

Employees can sign up for no-cost webinars and one-on-one 30-minute consultations with CFP^® professionals at varetire.org/make-a-plan.