Delivering retirement benefits to a diverse and growing workforce

Milliman's decades of experience designing and administering customized defined contribution plans made us the perfect fit for Cabela's, an outdoor retailer looking to implement an attractive retirement package for its employees.

Outdoor specialty retailer Cabela’s began as a small family-owned store when it was founded in Nebraska in 1961, but the rapidly growing company went public in 2004 and now has retail stores across the U.S. and Canada. Through its years of growth, Cabela’s has remained committed to upholding its small-company values and providing its employees with the best work experience possible. That includes offering top-notch benefits, including a 401(k) plan.

Milliman started working with Cabela’s as a benefits consultant 15 years ago, when the company had only 5,000 employees. Today there are more than 14,000 people in the Cabela’s benefit program, and the expansion is expected to continue.

“It’s been a wonderful challenge to figure out how to keep up with this client’s growth,” says Kari Jakobe, a principal and retirement consultant at Milliman.

The company now has workers of many different ages who are geographically dispersed and work full-time, part-time, and seasonal schedules. Keeping them all aware of their different benefit options is no easy task.

Retirement planning education meetings, targeted messages with specific recommendations, and access to local, knowledgeable call center representatives, provide employees with the tools and knowledge to do exactly what it takes to achieve retirement success.

“When Milliman takes on the responsibility of servicing a retirement plan, we take that role very seriously,” says Milliman principal and senior retirement consultant Sandra McGinty. “We want to allow clients to not just offer employees excellent benefits, but to ensure that those benefits are being used wisely.”

Creating a retirement benefits package tailored to the needs of a diverse employee base required a close partnership with Cabela’s.

“The best way to work with a client is to build a rapport, to build trust, to be honest, to communicate frequently,” says McGinty.

“Milliman brings in a whole level of customer care that I don’t believe you’ll get elsewhere,” adds Kari Jakobe. “One of the reasons we’ve been able to partner with Cabela’s for as long as we have is that we have similar philosophies. We build retirement solutions that are tailored for our clients, and that's very similar to Cabela's philosophy of delighting their shoppers one customer at a time.”