November, 2003 - As a financial consultant for workplace retirement plan providers, it’s up to Carol Skoglund of Skoglund and Associates in Cleveland Heights, OH, to help companies boost employee participation in 401K and other savings plans. It’s a job that has been getting tougher.

“We know from countless studies and reports that US workers have a difficult time saving for retirement,” Skoglund said. “Their capacity to save has become even more difficult in recent years due to job losses, loss of trust in large institutions, and workers’ fear of losing money already invested in retirement plans.”

Skoglund has found that financial literacy is a crucial factor in persuading employees to invest for their futures.
“Most people are ill prepared to make basic decisions about their retirement planning,” Skoglund said. “They want a feeling of understanding and self-control, and without that inertia tends to take over. As financial planners, we need to tap into that emotional aspect by making sure that we talk to people on their own terms.”

While searching the Internet for tools to help her educate workplace savers, Skoglund found The Encyclopedia of Personal Finance™. “It looked like a very helpful resource, so I ordered it,” she said. Since then, she has used the CD’s many articles on retirement planning and employee savings plans as an integral part of her practice.

“Persuading workers to save and invest for retirement requires effective communication – not just to convey information but to change behavior,” Skoglund said. “To do this effectively, we need to be grounded in the interests and language of our receiver. The Encyclopedia helps me to accomplish this by offering easy-to-understand definitions and explanations that a majority of workers can appreciate,” she said.

“The articles and definitions are very straightforward and written in laymen’s terms. It’s not full of a lot of confusing investment jargon. The Encyclopedia is very easy to use and read, and it addresses many concepts that are directly applicable to my work with employees in the workplace,” Skoglund said.

Skoglund has the Encyclopedia software loaded on her computer in her office, and refers to it often as she prepares training materials to educated employees about their investment options. She’s even used the Encyclopedia to train other investment advisors on how to make their group training sessions more effective.
Skoglund says she’d recommend The Encyclopedia of Personal Finance to other financial professionals. “In this job, it’s important to constantly stay current and have the best information at your fingertips,” she said. “The Encyclopedia is a convenient and handy way to do that.”

More Testimonials