Get Expert Help on Your Retirement Savings Journey

Meet with a Fidelity adviser to reach your financial goals

A person on a bridge in Costa Rica.
Duke University School of Nursing Assistant Research Professor Allison Lewinski has been saving for her life after work, which she hopes will feature plenty of adventures like her recent trip to Costa Rica. Photo courtesy: Allison Lewinski.

When she was 18 years old, Allison Lewinski got a job brewing espressos and lattes at a department store near her home in Michigan. It didn’t mean much to her at the time, but her employer offered a 401(k) retirement plan and matched a portion of her contribution.

“I was like, ‘Why do I need this?’” Lewinski said. “I didn’t have a career to even retire from.”

At the urging of her mother, Lewinski enrolled in the plan and began contributing money toward a financial finish line several decades away.

Now in her early 40s, Lewinski, an Assistant Research Professor at Duke University School of Nursing, continues to save for retirement. The money she began saving as a teenager has since been rolled into
her 403(b) Faculty and Staff Retirement Plan at Duke, where it continues to grow.

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After making voluntary contributions since joining Duke’s faculty in 2020, Lewinski met with a Fidelity adviser assigned to Duke for the first time last year to gauge her progress toward a retirement when she can indulge her travel passion.

“I’m solidly on the path, which is comforting,” Lewinski said.

All exempt and non-exempt employees in the 403(b) Faculty and Staff Retirement Plan can schedule complimentary consultations with experts from Fidelity, the primary recordkeeper for Duke’s retirement plans. Meetings are conducted on Zoom, but in-person and phone options are available.

These age-based retirement benchmarks from Fidelity show how much money people should, under ideal circumstances, have saved up for retirement at different points in their carer to maintain their lifestyle in retirement. SOURCE: Fidelity Investments.

Since 2022, Fidelity Workplace Financial Consultant Yvette Mills has been helping new Duke employees set up their retirement fund and guides others close to retirement. Mills most often meets with employees, like Lewinski, who want to review the status of their savings.

“I meet with a lot of people who say, ‘I haven’t looked at my plan for the last few years, and maybe it’s time to review my investments and see if I’m on track,’” Mills said.

Fidelity recommends that you aim to save 15% of your pre-tax pay (including any employer match) each year of work, with the goal of saving enough to replace at least 45% of your pre-retirement income.

During consultations with Fidelity representatives, employees are invited to bring budgets and financial statements to create a full picture of income and expenses. Fidelity representatives use online calculators to input data, projecting the income employees will need in retirement and evaluating how well current savings align with goals.

With that information, employees can build budgets, change contribution amounts or alter investment strategies to meet retirement savings goals.

“What we want to do, more than anything else is to understand the goals you have and work out an actionable plan to get you there,” Mills said.

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