PII includes sensitive information that could be used to identify an individual. This includes data such as name, Social Security number, date of birth, or address.

This study does NOT include PII.

Most organizations do not have all the data fields. We understand and can work with you to prioritize and strategize.

We are requesting 2021 calendar-year data, and 2022 when it is available. Further, we see this study as a partnership over time, and we hope this project extends into the foreseeable future as we are able to more fully understand challenges, and test possible solutions in the industry. The depth of this analysis will be seen further over time. Further, data retrieval and submission are significantly easier after the initial round—recordkeepers can create standard files for sharing, and internal hurdles are typically much lower.

The data analysis needs to be consistent across plans to be of value. A full year of contributions and pay are necessary to assess savings rates and matching contributions.

To understand data more fully by race, gender, and income, we require data on eligible and participants with a balance. This includes all employees contributing, all employees with a balance, and all eligible who are eligible but have not contributed to the plan. Terminated employees may also be provided, however are lower priority.

Ideally, we would like a list of investment options available to participants (and corresponding asset class) and the allocation to each of these options—for the overall account (balance) and contribution elections (%) for each participant. If this is not possible, we can explore alternative ways to capture how assets are invested.

If there is one formula that applies to all employees, we can receive that in the general plan specifications. However, if there are multiple formulae that apply to different segments of the employee population, we will need an indicator for each participant to identify the corresponding formula. This can be done through a column in the data set, or coded appropriately (with a data definition).

Data coming from multiple sources can be sent to us separately or merged. If it is sent to us separately, we will need all files to include a consistent identifier, such as an employee ID, and that identifier needs to be consistent year-to-year. As we do NOT want PII, the identifier must not be SSN or full name.