3. Try to manage out small balances

Instituting an automatic rollover program helps reduce the proliferation of small balance accounts in your plan. While automatic rollovers are commonly associated with IRA rollovers, offer your exiting employees the additional option of managed portability, i.e., moving their account balance into a new employer plan.

Doing so helps you manage your small balances and terminate your fiduciary responsibility while helping participants manage their money and stay invested in retirement. It’s both the smart and the right thing to do.

4. Don’t get upset with market volatility

The lesson here is to ignore short-term stock market volatility and the distraction of market commentators that often encourage investors to switch funds or change their savings strategy based upon recent events. Your goal is to maximize the size of your investment at retirement and not to worry about short-term stock market volatility, which is unpredictable and unavoidable.

The earlier a person starts planning for retirement the better. With the priority on retirement reform in 2014, hopefully more people will be encouraged to focus on this critical issue.