Solution Aims to Help Retirement Plan Participants Consider Health Savings

Empower Retirement and health services provider Optum launched a health savings account (HSA) for retirement plan participants—The Empower Health Savings Account.

Available this summer to employers, the Empower Health Savings Account will provide plan participants access to an online, seamless financial-planning solution that integrates retirement savings with health care savings, helping them prepare for health care expenses in retirement. The Empower-Optum tool will provide access to investment advice and retirement planning resources that bring together an individual’s health and retirement portfolio to help them understand their options to cover health care costs and maximize their savings across tax-advantaged programs.

The Empower HSA plan will enable participants to see and understand the gaps in their retirement plan and develop a strategy to take action, including health plan selection and enrollment, retirement plan management, inclusion of wellness programs and health savings account management. Optum and Empower’s technology and planning tools integrate the HSA and the retirement plans to provide analysis and forecasting of the participant’s retirement preparedness.

“Health care in retirement can be a considerable expense and one that makes retirement planning more challenging. The Empower Health Savings Account can help people prepare for that challenge,” says Edmund F. Murphy III, president of Empower Retirement.

Through the Empower HSA, employers will gain a way to help their employees plan for their future. They will have access to aggregated retirement readiness information, including the retirement plan and health savings account data. Employers will also benefit from streamlined administration through a dedicated partner, and integrated tools and services.