Employers are typically responsible for providing attractive
Mindy Zatto is the founding principal of Strategic Benefits Advisors (SBA) and has been advising employers on their benefits plans for over 30 years. Zatto takes pride in handling the more perplexing aspects of plan building and management.
"Anytime a plan is in place, there is a high bar of fiduciary responsibility for the plan sponsor, whether that's the company or government," she says. "My approach is to be a trusted adviser who makes sure everyone gets the benefits they're due."
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As someone who specializes in retirement plans, Zatto even became credentialed as an actuary, meaning she can assess and manage the risks of financial investments and insurance policies. In turn, Zatto can calculate an employer's contribution requirements against factors like life expectancies to see how much is needed to build a sustainable
And unlike healthcare or other wellness plans, retirement benefits have to last an employee the rest of their life, and possibly their spouse's life too; there's little room for error.
"Pension plans, for example, run from the time employees start their career to the time they retire, and then they get paid until they pass away or maybe their spouse continues to get paid," says Zatto. "The horizon is very long, and what I can do is calculate what needs to be funded so the plan can go on in perpetuity."
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But Zatto's role doesn't end once the benefits are built. Zatto and her team ensure employers remain compliant with new regulations, like the Secure 2.0 Act, which brought a wave of changes to the retirement landscape. For instance, the age at which plan participants must withdraw money from their retirement accounts increased from 72 to 73 years old, and the annual cap on catch-up contributions for older workers jumped to $10,000.
"When new legislation comes out, there's a lot of chaos in the industry as everyone is trying to figure out what needs to be done and how to get it done," says Zatto. "We want to make sure that if our clients are audited, it's clear they are doing the right thing."
However, for Zatto one of the most challenging parts of her job is helping workers manage their money in their retirement. Traditionally, advisers are primarily concerned with the plan itself, and less with how employees will utilize it after they leave their employers.
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"We've worked a lot as an industry on the accumulation phase, which is getting those balances built up," says Zatto. "But we have to focus on the decumulation phase, so people know how to budget their money so they don't outlive it."
Given today's cost of living, retirees could use all the help they can get. According to Charles Schwab, a majority of Americans believe they would need $1.8 million to retire. Last year, the same survey landed on $1.7 million.
Zatto knows that planning for retirement is not getting any easier, and neither is building the benefits that make retirement possible. But after leading her company for over 20 years, Zatto is confident her team can continue to help employers build and sustain effective plans.
"We're always looking to provide really excellent services to our clients," she says. "We just celebrated SBA's 20th year in 2022, and it's a big accomplishment getting to do this for my whole career. I love this job."
