John Hancock Retirement Launches Financial Wellness Platform

John Hancock Retirement Plan Services has partnered with EverFi to release an online financial wellness platform.

Now available to all John Hancock retirement plan participants, My Learning Center is a digital program offering education based on core financial competency. Subjects covered through this mobile and tablet-ready platform range from identity protection and credit card management to estate planning, with more than 20 modules offered in English and Spanish.

Features encompass video, animation and gaming to engage and reward participants for taking control of their financial future, the firm says. Moreover, the educational programs extend to family members of participants and offer courses designed for varying age groups from elementary school to college students and adults.

“We’ve seen, through our annual Financial Stress Survey, that a lack of financial literacy is a significant cause of stress,” says Patrick Murphy, president of John Hancock Retirement Plan Services.

“It’s a societal challenge that cuts across income groups and directly affects an individual’s ability to prepare for retirement,” Murphy adds. “If we want to engage our participant base, we need to provide the tools to address the basic causes of financial stress, so they can succeed. That’s why we made sure My Learning Center would be available not only to retirement plan participants, but to their families as well, through age-appropriate modules. We want to engage the entire family, and begin to impact individuals’ financial literacy, in some cases even before they enter the workforce.”

John Hancock has worked with EverFi for the past four years, providing financial literacy curriculums to 35 Michigan public schools, and to Boston-area students through the MLK Scholars program. Almost 2,800 students in Michigan and Boston took a combined total of more than 13,000 EverFi course modules this year, and reported being significantly more confident and better prepared to make the financial decisions that they will face as they move through their teen years and into young adulthood. Earlier this year, NASDAQ recognized John Hancock’s learning initiatives with an Innovation in Financial Education Award.

“We are incredibly proud of the success EverFi and John Hancock have had within our communities,” says Thomas Crohan, ‎AVP and counsel, John Hancock Corporate Responsibility & Government Relations. “Broadening our relationship with EverFi reinforces our commitment to improving financial literacy in America.”