CRES: An Approach Whose Time Has Come

The Certified Retirement Education Specialist (CRES) is a certification through the NTSA that is gaining acceptance at a rapid pace. The three-hour certificate course is designed to promote education of employee’s retirement planning options and improve participation in 403(b)s. 

School districts are at a crossroads regarding prudent compliance with the IRS’ Universal Availability Rule and allowing vendors on campus to promote education and products. However, the CRES program has begun to bring the two together with unbiased, non-product education, which can be delivered by individual companies and or a consortium of multiple vendors. The NTSA CRES Advisor has agreed to abide by the highest standards of professional conduct and to coordinate all educational activity in accordance with school district solicitation policies and guidelines. 

This past February during the NTSA Summit held in Phoenix, AZ, we heard how over the last several years a number of vendors and advisors have come together in Arizona to promote the program, while adopting the basic principles of CRES—unbiased, non-product related education, along with a strong code of conduct—and the results have been amazing:

• 17 school districts in the greater Phoenix area have adopted the program, with 4 more in the pipeline
• 37,000 covered employees
• 40 different school and administrative locations
• Participation has increased in many of these districts as much as 40%

Connecticut has also begun to adopt the program through a joint task force of several vendors and TPAs, all in coordination with the Connecticut Association of Business Officials (CASBO). As of the writing of this article, there have been four CRES workshops delivered via Zoom in November 2021, with more than 450 employees attending. Four more are scheduled for this month.

As the program and materials continue to expand, we have also seen the total number of CRES advisors grow to over 700 across the country. When you combine the rising acceptance by school districts and the advisor community, along with a growing backing of many TPAs, the CRES program may be a solid answer for the delivering education and increasing participation amongst employees.

Paul Prete, CRES,  AIF®, is Director, Advisor Relationships, for PenServ Plan Services, Inc.

Opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of NTSA or its members.