Voya Financial has added healthcare and Social Security calculators to its enrollment and participant account platform to help enrollees better visualize the income they’ll have in retirement. The updates allow enrollees to optimize their employer’s company match and also benchmark themselves to peers who are also saving for retirement. In addition, existing participants will benefit from new functionality that lets them factor Social Security and healthcare costs into their retirement planning decisions.
Findings from the Voya Retire Ready Index show that workers who were participating in an employer-sponsored retirement plan, one-third (33%) chose to save up to the amount their employer would match. One-in-five (20%) saved an amount that was determined automatically by their employer, while a slightly smaller group (17%) contributed up to the maximum amount allowed by the plan. Nearly one-in-three (29%) said they used “some other method” to determine their contribution rate.
The Voya Retire Ready Index also finds that a greater understanding of healthcare costs and Social Security benefits can play a big part in achieving retirement security. The study found that more than six-in-ten (61%) workers were significantly concerned about their inability to pay for healthcare expenses in retirement. A majority (58%) were also significantly concerned that they would end up with fewer Social Security benefits than expected, yet almost half (45%) planned to rely on Social Security as a major source of their income in retirement. Adding to the challenge – two-thirds (66%) of workers planned to start taking Social Security at age 66 or younger – possibly missing out on the opportunity to collect their maximum benefit.
Voya’s Social Security Illustrator allows users to model different combinations of their anticipated retirement age and the age when they want to start receiving benefits. The Retirement Healthcare Planner shows them how healthcare costs may increase with age and how this may affect monthly retirement income needs. Customers have the option to turn these features “on” and “off” when modeling various scenarios. They also have the ability to download or update the Voya Retirement mobile app to access the myOrangeMoney experience. The new enrollment, Social Security and healthcare features will be accessible on mobile devices later this year.
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.
