Products March 23, 2018

Empower Engages Quovo to Present Holistic Financial Picture to Retirement Plan Participants

Leveraging Quovo’s capabilities, Empower will pull real-time data from all of a participant's income sources, savings and investment accounts and integrate those factors with demographic data into a planning experience using the input of investment professionals and Empower proprietary technology.

Reported by

Empower Retirement has selected Quovo, a financial data platform, to offer enhanced account connectivity services to retirement plan participants.

Data services supplied by Quovo will enable Empower to further provide participants with a comprehensive view of all their financial accounts from a variety of outside institutions, including investments, banks, loans and insurance providers. Leveraging Quovo’s capabilities, Empower will pull real-time data from all of a participant’s income sources, savings and investment accounts and integrate those factors with demographic data into a planning experience using the input of investment professionals and Empower proprietary technology.

Want the latest retirement plan adviser news and insights? Sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters.

“A more scalable and automated means of viewing one’s assets enables individuals and their advisers to make financial planning decisions based on better information,” says Edmund F. Murphy III, president of Empower Retirement. “Quovo is the market leader in providing these services and, with their expanded toolsets, we believe this partnership helps to bring a new level of retirement and overall financial planning to our participants.”

“By offering our account aggregation capabilities through the Empower platform, millions of Americans will now be able to construct a holistic view of their financial picture and better prepare for retirement,” says Lowell Putnam, co-founder and CEO of Quovo.

Earlier this month Empower announced the launch of My Total Retirement, an end-to-end advice and planning solution for plan participants designed to help an individual from the goal-setting stage at the start of their career through a withdrawal strategy that’s implemented when their working years conclude.
Data & Research March 23, 2018

Gen Xers on Shaky Retirement Planning Ground

IRI President and CEO Cathy Weatherford says financial advisers are uniquely positioned to help Gen X effectively plan for their retirement concerns.

Reported by

The majority of Gen Xers believe their retirement savings will cover basic expenses as well as leisure and travel, but the fact of the matter is, 40% have no retirement savings, the Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) learned in a survey. This is up from 35% in 2016. In addition, 66% have not tried to figure out how much they will need to save in order to retire.

The oldest of the members of Generation X are only 10 years away from turning 65, IRI notes. “Time is running out for Gen Xers to save for a financially secure retirement,” says IRI President and CEO Cathy Weatherford. “Unfortunately, fewer Gen Xers are saving for retirement or utilizing professional financial advice than in previous years. The top three retirement risks Gen Xers are most concerned about are changes to Social Security, high health care costs and running out of money—and financial advisers are uniquely positioned to help them effectively plan for these concerns.”

Sixty-seven percent of Gen Xers say they are satisfied with their lives from a financial standpoint, up from 64% in 2016. While 60% have money saved for retirement, this is down from 65% in 2016.

Among those with retirement savings, 70% have less than $250,000 saved, down from 80% in 2016. However, 23% have $250,000 or more saved, up from 12% in 2016.

Sixty percent think the government should make it a legal requirement for employers to offer 401(k) plans, and 81% would like to be offered the option to take a portion of their savings in monthly guaranteed income.

Sixty percent think they have enough money saved for retirement to cover some (36%) or extensive (24%) travel and leisure activities.

Asked what their top three retirement fears are, Gen Xers say changes to Social Security (66%), higher than expected health care expenses (64%) and running out of money (59%).

Want the latest retirement plan adviser news and insights? Sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters.

«