“Don’t leave money on the table” is a slogan. A paycheck line is a decision. People leave the match unused because nobody showed them the dollar amount on a check they already understand. The message that works is: if you put in this much, we put in that much, here is what that looks like per paycheck, here is the one change to make. Save-for-retirement copy is how you lose the night shift in the first sentence.
This sits next to financial wellness and total rewards, but it has a narrower job. You are not launching a platform. You are correcting a compensation miss the employee is making. Eighty-six percent of people say they are confused by their benefits. Forty-one percent do not understand last year’s pick. A webinar about compounding on top of that is a lecture. A dollar example is a choice. Pair the education with benefits education that people can use — then stop talking about age 65 until they are at the match.
Show the match on a paycheck, not in a slogan
Use your real formula and a wage people in that job actually earn. Example, so the shape is obvious: someone earning $20 an hour, 40 hours, about $1,600 in a biweekly check. If you match 50% of the first 6%, a 6% deferral is about $96 from them and about $48 from you — per paycheck. That is about $1,250 a year of company money they do not get if they stay at 0%. Write those four numbers. Do not write “up to 50% of the first 6% of eligible compensation.” Nobody spends that sentence at the kitchen table.
Put the employee amount and the company amount in the same unit. Per paycheck next to per paycheck. If you also show an annual total, put it on the next line, not in the same clause. If there is a vesting schedule, say the one fact that changes the decision (“you keep the match after X years”) and stop. A vesting essay is how you talk people out of starting. If there is no match, do not pretend. This post assumes you have one. If you do not, this is the wrong campaign.
Households decide this. The spouse needs the same four numbers on a page that does not require a 401(k) login. One forwardable line: “If I put in $96, they put in $48 — every paycheck.” That is Reach Equity™ for retirement. A portal-only calculator the partner cannot open is a desk toy.
Ask for one change — to the match, not to a “plan”
The first action is a deferral that captures the match, or a 1% increase toward it. It is not a risk-tolerance quiz, a target-date lecture, or a completed vendor profile. Those are the vendor’s metrics. Yours is: share of eligible people deferring at or above the match threshold, split hourly vs. salaried. If you ask for a full financial plan in the same message, you will get neither the plan nor the match.
People already at the match do not need this note. Suppress them. People at 0% need the paycheck math and a two-minute start on a phone. People at 3% when the match runs to 6% need the gap in dollars, not a pep talk. One audience per send. A single email that tries to recruit, upsell, and teach investing will get a delete.
When to say it — hire, raise, enrollment, tax time
Day one is a match conversation, not a 40-page SPD. New hire already has a sequence; put the four numbers in it. A raise or a promotion is the moment take-home just went up — ask for 1% before the new number feels spoken for. Open enrollment can carry the same paycheck line as one decision among medical and HSA, not as a retirement seminar. Tax season is when people look at last year’s withholdings; a short “this is still sitting unused” note works if they are still below the match.
Do not wait for a financial-wellness month. Do not bury the match inside an eight-module platform. The match is compensation. Talk about it the way you would talk about a missed bonus: clearly, with a dollar figure, with one way to fix it this week.
Frontline path, or you only move HQ
The plant will not sit a 30-minute call about asset allocation. SMS with consent, the four numbers on a no-login page, a QR at the clock, a named person who can start the form — not a webinar at noon. Managers get a card: here is the paycheck example for this site’s typical wage; I do not see your balance; here is the link; I will not advise funds. A supervisor who picks investments in a huddle is a problem. A supervisor who can point at $48 is an asset.
LinQed Online can run the segment, the SMS, and the page so the desk and the floor get the same decision in different envelopes. Steal the short versions from the templates library and replace the placeholders with your formula and a real wage. Then report capture-the-match by segment. If salaried is fine and hourly is not, you have a reach problem. Score it, or walk through the sequence. Advisors who want this in a client QBR can use the broker scorecard and the firm motion.
Key takeaways
- Show the match as dollars on a paycheck — employee amount, company amount, same unit.
- “Save for retirement” is a slogan. The decision is a missed check.
- Ask for one change: hit the match, or +1% toward it. Suppress people already there.
- Talk at hire, raise, enrollment, and tax time — not only in a wellness month.
- Households need a no-login page. The plant needs SMS. That is Reach Equity™.
- Report share at or above the match by segment, not webinar attendance.
Frequently asked questions
How do you explain a 401(k) match without teaching the whole plan?
Four numbers: your deferral on a typical paycheck, the company amount on that same check, the annual company total if they stay at zero, and the one change to make (start, or raise to the match). Vesting in one clause if it matters. Funds and compounding wait until they are contributing.
What wage should we use in the example?
A wage people in that job actually earn — site by site if pay bands differ. A $120,000 example sent to a $20/hour floor is how you get ignored. Recalculate the four numbers per audience. Do not send a national average.
Should we talk about investing and target-date funds in the same message?
Not as the lead. The first failure is a 0% deferral next to an unused match. Investing is a second conversation for people who already capture it. One email that tries to do both will get neither action.
How do we know match communication is working?
Share of eligible employees at or above the match threshold, split hourly vs. salaried. Watch the 0% bucket. If only HQ moves, fix reach and the paycheck example before you buy another webinar. Registrations and “engagement scores” are vendor metrics.
If the match is unused, the slogan failed. Score the communication gap.
Pairs strategic thinking with a drive to get it right every time. With 16+ years of experience — including a communication practice in Sydney, Australia — she specializes in simplifying complex benefit programs.
