In almost every way, the Hispanic population in America—nearly 58 million strong—is doing better money-wise than their non-Hispanic counterparts.
They tend to be more financially stable, better prepared for expenses and great at getting hired, according to Elevate’s Center for the New Middle Class.
However, not when saving for retirement.
Indeed, while part of the problem is behavioral, access (or a lack thereof) compounds the issue.
Less than 10 percent of small business workers in the five top Hispanic metro areas of the United States have access to employer-sponsored retirement savings accounts.
Additionally, according to a recent study from Finhabits, the states with the largest concentration of Hispanic residents had the lowest participation in retirement savings. Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Florida are among the states with the lowest participation rate (under 25 percent) overall.
Transamerica is doing its part to help reverse the low retirement saving trend.
On Thursday, the company announced new navigation tools to help Spanish-speaking participants use its retirement plan website.
Plan sponsors of workplace retirement plans may now elect to enable participant website navigation in Spanish, as well as full translation of select pages.
“Spanish-speaking participants may now benefit from both fully translated primary website navigation, specific page translations, and description overlays to provide additional information,” it said. “These features help empower Spanish-speaking participants to take control of their retirement planning, access more educational resources to make informed decisions, and initiate transactions, such as contribution increases or loan requests.”
“Technology and communication play key roles in how people engage with their company’s retirement plan,” Scott Ramey, Senior Vice President and Head of Workplace Solutions for Transamerica, added in a statement. “At Transamerica, we continuously seek ways to connect with our customers that are most comfortable for them. We believe the new website features are valuable to both our plan sponsor clients and their employees. Adding Spanish language capabilities to the retirement plan website can help improve retirement outcomes by building bridges to essential resources for customers whose primary language is Spanish.”
The new feature is available to 401(k) and Section 451 nonqualified deferred compensation retirement plans administered by Transamerica.