Vanguard has released its latest edition of How America Saves, a guide that helped Vanguard’s contribution participants stay the course during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The investment behemoth has continued to expand the catalog in its 20th year with Insights to Action, a supplementary report that delivers expert recommendations shown to improve plan efficacy and employee participation.

“The unwavering investment focus and discipline demonstrated by Vanguard 401(k) participants throughout the COVID-19 pandemic is a powerful illustration of the benefits and value of thoughtful plan design,” said John James, managing director and head of Vanguard Institutional Investor Group.

“Together with Vanguard, plan sponsors continue to make incredible progress expanding access to the tools and resources employees need to improve their financial well-being.”

By adopting the DC plan with features such as automatic enrollment, automatic escalation, and target-date funds, more participants were able to save for retirement while keeping their focus on the long term, despite last year’s unprecedented market uncertainty.

This year’s supplementary report offers effective plan design recommendations that can markedly improve participants’ outcomes.

How America Saves encourages plan sponsors to focus on four key areas, including automatic features, adoption of advice and retiree-friendly policies, curtailing frequent loans, and withdrawals.