July 2022
Your monthly news & updates
Stay informed about the latest Ohio DC employer news. Find information about plan changes, financial wellness, and participant newsletters. 
Ohio DC Employer Resolution
We would like to formally honor the following employers, recognized by the Ohio DC Board of Trustees as 2021 Employer Recognition Resolution recipients. The Employer Recognition Program recognizes employers who support Ohio DC through collaboration with educational initiatives, cooperation with local Account Executives’ efforts, and measurably improved participation over time.

  • Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA)
  • City of Strongsville
  • Cleveland Public Library
  • East Muskingum Local Schools
  • Madison Local Schools
  • Portage County
  • Southwest Public Libraries
  • Trimble Local School District   

Ohio DC admires the hard work of these organizations ensuring Ohio's public employees are better equipped for retirement!
Join our Executive Director for an Employer Webinar
Christina Elliott will be hosting the one hour Helping Your Employees Prepare for Retirement webinar for our employer community on August 4, 2022 at 9 a.m. To participate, please register now. You will be emailed attendance instructions after you have registered. Topics for this session include:

  • Information about Ohio Deferred Compensation
  • The importance of overall financial wellness for you and your employees
  • Why employer engagement matters
  • Information about Ohio DC’s comprehensive financial wellness platform, Enrich, at no cost to you
  • Other free resources from Ohio DC
Pensions & Investments Technology Award
Pensions & Investments awarded Ohio DC with their 2022 Eddy Award for our communication campaign implementing the Enrich Financial Wellness Program. We are thrilled to receive this honor and will continue to provide our participants with great programs and services in the future.

Enrich provides our participants with a free, robust financial wellness program to help with all their personal finance questions from budgeting to banking, insurance to investing, and more. All they have to do to get started is login to their Ohio DC account and click on the green "Financial Wellness" button. Thank you for helping us provide your staff with these tools to guide them on the path to retirement income security.
Financial Reporting Under GASB 97
Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statement No. 97 is effective for fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2021. The new standard requires that a Section 457 plan be classified as either a “pension plan” or an “other employee benefit plan” depending on whether the plan meets the definition of a pension plan. GASB 97 also clarifies that Statement 84, as amended, should be applied to all arrangements organized under IRC Section 457 to determine whether those arrangements should be reported as fiduciary activities. The Ohio Auditor of State recently updated their FAQs to include discussion of GASB 97 and potential reporting requirements for employers who offer Ohio DC or other Section 457 plans. If employer paid contributions are not made to a plan, a Section 457 plan is generally not considered to be a pension plan as it relates to that employer.
Ohio DC Related Information for Your Employees
Ohio DC provides monthly information on finance-related issues for your employee newsletters or Intranet. For the month of July, please feel free to use the link to our article on Emotional Investing, to educate your employees on how one's emotions can influence investment decisions.

You can download articles on health care in retirement, understanding deferred compensation, fees, and more.
Message from the Executive Director
Christina Elliott
Executive Director
Summer Budgeting Tips
As an employer myself, trying to think of topics for the article this quarter, I thought I might provide some fun tips to help your employees with their summer budgets. As we all know, most of our employees take vacations during the summer months, and these expenses can add up. To help your employees stay on track with their savings goals, here are some easy tips for summer savings!

Exercise outside – now that the weather has improved, cancel or place gym memberships on hold and burn those calories at a local metro park.

Potential savings could be $25-$200 a month
 
Free summer entertainment – instead of paying for venues, check out local venues/restaurants/parks that are offering free live music or other types of entertainment.

Potential savings could be $10-$500 per month

Consider starting a garden – this can be a great family bonding experience and also provide some savings at the grocery store.

Potential savings could be $10-$100 per month

Host a garage sale – this is a way your employees can make some money while getting rid of items in their homes that they no longer want or need.

Potential earnings could be $200+ per garage sale

Book hotel rooms with kitchens – this is always a great way to save money while on vacation. You can opt for a slightly higher priced hotel but you could save hundreds in meal costs over the course of the trip.

Potential savings could be upwards of $1,000 

Let Ohio DC help your staff to save for retirement. Call our Service Center or your local Account Executive to schedule a worksite visit. Employees can schedule a virtual appointment by selecting their local Account Executive's name on the Schedule a Call with an Account Executive page.