Student Debt Retirement annual review toolkit
A suite of materials to help you announce, educate about and navigate the benefit annual review process and period to your employees
What is annual review?
Plan sponsors ending their benefit year with the Student Debt Retirement (SDR) benefit will move to finalize student loan payment amounts, calculate required benefit payments, and test all parts of their plan for compliance with nondiscrimination testing.
For SDR plan years ending on or after 23 August 2025, two weeks* will be allocated for each plan sponsors’ SDR plan participants to review their final payment data and add and/or confirm payment data prior to the end-of-year match funding period. New currently is a suite of fully-automated Fidelity-sent communications which can be previewed here.
*While two weeks is the default annual review period, some plan sponsors may have longer windows.
Why should I use the Student Debt Retirement annual review toolkit?
This toolkit focuses on information for SDR-enrolled participants before, during and after annual review. It includes samples of Fidelity-sent annual review communications, as well as supplemental communications and materials to further raise awareness about and inform participants about the process.
The sections below outline the flow of participants’ complete journey, noting where annual review falls relative to the other SDR journey stages:
| SDR annual review communications |
For a detailed overview of the SDR annual review communications and experience from enrollment confirmation through match, download the experience document. Download SDR annual review experience document As a reminder, SDR participants receive a Fidelity-sent quarterly payments reminder at the end of each plan quarter. |
| One month before annual review |
One month (30 days) before a plan sponsor’s annual review period opens, a Fidelity-sent announcement is sent to enrolled participants. This message contains a link to the SDR annual review guide. View Fidelity-sent annual review announcement
Plan sponsors are encouraged to use the remainder of the month before annual review to socialize the upcoming 2-week period. Remember to share the annual review guide to further educate participants on what to expect: |
| During annual review |
Annual review will open for SDR-enrolled participants on the first day of the two-week period as selected by their individual plan sponsors. All annual review communications within the two-week period are sent by Fidelity:
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| After annual review closes |
After reviewing and approving data, approving match amounts and funding the match it’s time to celebrate! Use the end-of-year match OFT to inform participating employees of their match. After reviewing and approving data, approving match amounts and funding the match it’s time to celebrate! Use the end-of-year match OFT to inform participating employees of their match. Use the celebration power point slide to showcase the number of employees enrolled, total student loan payments paid, and additional match contributions earned from student loan payments. This data is available via Student Debt section of PSW. |
Additional helpful resources
| SDR PSW toolkit |
Visit the SDR PSW toolkit for more information about the full plan year, including a full suite of materials to raise awareness, educate and promote the benefit to your employees. |
| Student Debt Tool |
Want to help your employees learn if there's a better way to pay off their student loans? The Student Debt Hub helps them assess, track, and understand new strategies for paying off student debt. |
| Student debt relief + participant help |
In response to the Department of Education's Student Debt Relief Plan, we have curated FAQs and other materials to help you and your employees navigate the loan forgiveness program. Click here to visit the Fidelity Workplace Student Debt Page |