Small employers can download the U.S. Dept. of Labor’s new online video aimed at helping them understand the various options for providing a retirement plan for their employees.

The video, Choosing a Retirement Solution for Your Small Business, introduces the three most popular retirement arrangements: simplified employee pension (SEP), savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement arrangement (SIMPLE IRA), and 401(k) plans.

Free copies of a companion booklet is also available for downloading, or by contacting the Employee Benefits Security Administration toll-free at 866-444-3272.

Workers without health insurance options are more likely to defer retirement to stay covered under their company’s plan, according to Watson Wyatt Worldwide.

Employees who rely on their company healthcare coverage and do not expect to receive company-provided retirement health benefits are 16.5 percentage points less likely to retire in any given year than workers with access to healthcare coverage through other sources such as a spouse’s health plan, public health insurance, or COBRA coverage, Watson Wyatt says.

The Watson Wyatt analysis also shows that other factors influencing the retirement decision include the type of retirement plan offered—defined benefit plans such as traditional pensions increase the likelihood of retirement by 4.1 percentage points compared to defined contribution plans such as a 401(k).

According to the Urban Institute, employers may need to rethink traditional workplace practices in order to attract and retain highly experienced, knowledgeable, and skilled older workers. In its report Current Strategies to Employ and Retain Older Workers, researchers find that many older people prefer part-time work so they can enjoy more relaxed lifestyles and pursue leisure activities, or may need flexible schedule to accommodate family care or physical limitations. Work policies that prevent part-time workers from collecting retirement benefits from their employer often force these workers to leave their career jobs, thus squandering firm-specific skills accumulated over long careers, notes the study. The report suggests employers could offer formal and informal phased retirement options, and creating flexible schedules, job sharing, and telework arrangements to keep the skilled older worker.

If your company offers retirement planning as a benefit, or wants to help employees prepare for a financially secure retirement, the U.S. Dept. of Labor has unveiled an online version of its publication, Taking the Mystery Out of Retirement Planning. The planner includes interactive worksheets to be completed at every chapter for those nearing retirement, to track income and expenses, tips on closing the gap, and how to make retirement money last.

The Employee Benefit Research Institute reports that growth in the number of 401(k)-type plans and the number of participants in those plans has slowed in recent years compared to the 1990s.

The EBRI study shows that ownership and assets in both 401(k)-type plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs) have risen, that the growth of IRA assets is due to rollovers from other tax-qualified retirement plans, and that most new IRA contributions are going into tax-free-on-withdrawal (nondeductible) Roth IRAs.

“IRAs and defined contribution plans held $7.5 trillion in assets at the end of the year 2006,” according to Craig Copeland, EBRI senior research associate and author of the study. “Although Americans have amassed a substantial amount of total wealth in these plans, the data also show that a majority of Americans still do not have a retirement plan.”