Financial wellness is the buzzword du jour, but there’s no denying its critical importance in ensuring good 401(k) participant behavior, and therefore successful retirement savings outcomes.
It seems every 401(k) provider out there is jumping aboard the financial wellness band wagon, and now we can add a few more to the mix.
Mega-benefit provider Mercer recently announced the launch of Mercer Financial Wellness and its “initial consumer financial services providers.”
“Employees are increasingly interested in their employer providing benefits that help them with their overall financial wellness–moving beyond the focus on retirement to address a wide range of individual financial needs from individual coaching to challenges facing new families to better debt management,” Tom Murphy, U.S. DC and Financial Wellness leader at Mercer, said in a statement. “Our goal is to provide an integrated experience that drives behaviors to optimize the financial well-being of individuals at every stage of their lives. This kind of holistic approach has the potential to dramatically strengthen and distinguish employer value propositions.”
Mercer named the following providers as initial partners:
- Plaid: tools to help individuals aggregate financial accounts and take steps to gain insights into spending and monthly budgets.
- Transamerica: retirement counselors to provide individuals information about the choices associated with retirement savings, social security optimization, and IRAs.
- Experian: credit score management and the ability for individuals to understand and take control of their FICOScore.
- Avant: unsecured personal loans for qualified individuals facing cash flow shortages or consumer debt.
- CommonBond: options for individuals to save money by refinancing their student loans.
Mercer Financial Wellness will continue to roll-out additional providers and services, the company added, including in the near future access to robo-advised investment accounts for non-qualified assets and one-on-one personal financial coaching services.
“Employees are stressed about their financial lives, often feeling a lack of control over basic financial decisions,” Murphy concluded. “The most effective financial wellness programs help people understand the options that are available at the right time to improve their financial situation and create simple ways to take advantage of these options.”
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
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