There’s a metric that every plan provider loves to brag about: enrollment rates. Auto-enrollment has made it so easy that even the most indifferent employee ends up in the plan. Great, right? Well… not so fast.
High enrollment doesn’t mean you have an educated participant base. It doesn’t mean people are saving enough. And it certainly doesn’t mean they understand what they’re invested in. Auto-features create participation, but they don’t create engagement. That’s the dirty little secret no one likes to say out loud.
A participant who defaults at 3% and never touches a thing is not a success story—they’re a cautionary tale. They’re the person who wakes up at 62, opens their statement, and says, “Wait… this is it?” And guess who they blame? Not themselves. You. The plan provider. The sponsor. The “experts.”
Education is the antidote.
When participants understand how the plan works, they save more. They use catch-up. They adjust their investments. They appreciate employer contributions. They stop making emotional decisions when the market dips. Most importantly, they stop calling the HR office every fifteen minutes asking why their balance dropped $47 last week.
Education reduces noise, increases confidence, and builds trust. That’s what real providers deliver.
So yes, celebrate high enrollment—but don’t confuse automatic participation with meaningful engagement. Auto-enrollment is a head start. Education is the finish line.
And plan providers who get that are the ones who keep clients for the long run.
