John Hancock Adds Mobile Enrollment

Employees of John Hancock Total Retirement Solutions clients can now use the MyLifeNow mobile app to enroll in their company’s 401(k) plan.

With the addition of MyLifeNow mobile enrollment, participants can also sign up for automatic salary deferral increases and adjust their pre-tax, Roth or after-tax contributions. The app also presents account balances, personal rates of return and current investment allocations.

“If we want to engage with participants, we need to meet them where they are,” explains Patrick Murphy, president of John Hancock Retirement Plan Services, “not ask them to come to us.” He suggests mobile phones are rapidly becoming the primary vehicle for people to manage their lives, “whether that is banking, communication, and yes—even retirement planning. Ensuring our participants can actually interact with their plan, not just get information, will be critical as we continue to move into a more mobile world.”

The MyLifeNow mobile app was launched in 2013 to give participants anywhere access to their 401(k) account balance, personal rate of return, estimated annual retirement income, year-to-date contributions, and investment allocations by asset class. Earlier this year, the company added other transactional capabilities, including reviewing and changing contribution percentage rates.

More information is at www.johnhancock.com.