Page 51 - DCAC February 2024 Files

County of San Mateo Deferred Compensation Program Participant Survey 2023

Q9 If you rated any of the county program aspects Neutral or lower, why?

Answered: 140 Skipped: 616

# RESPONSES DATE

1 A lack of understanding on my part-not taking the time to understand more-mostly because I 12/20/2023 9:17 PM
am so focused on work that needs to get done that I haven't set aside time to learn more.
2 Im not very familiar with my plan since I created it. 12/20/2023 1:08 PM

3 It would help to be more familiar with the plan design through deferred compensation options 12/19/2023 2:30 PM
education.
4 When you call the benefits team they are very vague with their answers 12/19/2023 10:24 AM

5 honestly I have not invested much time into in depth information about deferred compensation 12/18/2023 6:05 PM
6 N/A 12/18/2023 4:23 PM
7 Because I don't pay attention to the details. I've selected deferred comp investments, and I 12/18/2023 2:02 PM
just quickly scan the periodic statement to see my increase/decrease and don't pay it much
mind beyond that.
8 I feel the old plan was better as it pertains to borrowing and saving of your money. 12/18/2023 12:11 PM
9 Not sure I understand everything that goes into plan design 12/15/2023 6:54 PM

10 . 12/15/2023 5:32 PM
11 County is cheap and should match or pay more of our pension and benefits 12/15/2023 5:03 PM

12 The investment options are not aggressive enough and I will never meet my retirement goals. 12/15/2023 3:25 PM
Even with the 50+ catchup I will still never meet my financial needs to live in California. Also
the plan makes it very hard on the website to find the options for transferring money between
fund options. Clearly designed on purpose to prevent the participant from making any changes.
13 I feel that I do not know enough and have had trouble finding answers while on work-time 12/15/2023 12:25 PM
14 Not familiar with all id it at this time so I don't have a strong opinion 12/15/2023 11:49 AM
15 It can be better. 12/15/2023 11:33 AM

16 I should not have to cover so much out of pocket towards retirement. The County should be 12/15/2023 10:33 AM
paying a pension style Deferred Compensation for its employee's.
17 not easy to understand 12/15/2023 10:26 AM

18 I have always needed a financial advice to explain and guide me. I haven't reached out since 12/15/2023 12:18 AM
the pandemic, therefore I don't know where I'm currently standing and what are my best
options?
19 The deferred comp plan continues to delete funds that were performing great but a downturn 12/14/2023 10:36 PM
hits and then they get rid of it. Therefore, what was only a loss on paper turns into an actual
monetary loss. Instead of just getting rid of the underperfoming funds, they can just prevent
you from contributing new deposits. This way an employee can recoup the paper losses and
then can invest in something else. This has happened to me twice and numerous others I
know. We experienced actual losses instead of paper losses which is not right. This is why our
deferred compensation plan is terrible.
20 Is the cap of $30,000 imposed by the IRS. If so, then I change my score to max excellent. 12/14/2023 10:34 PM
21 haven't been here long to have an opinion 12/14/2023 9:59 PM

22 I often miss the calculation to contribute the maximum. Wish there was a way for it to be 12/14/2023 9:08 PM
monitored. Some sort of auto message so I can adjust if needed. For example I forgot to

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