Wells Fargo issued the following announcement on Nov. 29.
Company also rolls out service to support those who want a retirement income conversation.
CHARLOTTE, NC — Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust announced today a new Retirement Income Planning Center, an online resource for the plans that Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust administers to help those older than age 50 with key issues to consider as they near retirement.
“Too often, people delay retirement planning until just a few years or even months before leaving the workforce,” said Jon Graff, Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust director of Participant Services. “When you start that late, retirement experts often find there is little to be done to impact your outcome. But if you start at age 50 or 55, you have 10 to 15 years to change your expected outcomes.”
For those that like to do it themselves, the Retirement Income Planning Center provides resources to help create a retirement budget and income plan, two essentials for determining whether you are “on track” for retirement. It also features videos of retiree experiences and tools to help visitors envision what retirement might look like, meeting the need many have to visualize themselves in retirement and better define what retirement means.
“Accumulating a nest egg is critical, but if people do not optimize Social Security benefits, or if they draw down their savings too quickly, decades of diligent savings behavior can be negatively impacted,” Graff said. “People need help understanding how to convert their savings into a dependable income stream they will not outlive.”
Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust has also developed Retirement Income Conversations, a service that supports participants wanting to have conversations about their retirement. Through targeted messaging to individuals whose employers offer a Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust-administered retirement plan, Wells Fargo encourages people to call a dedicated toll-free number and hold a conversation with a trained representative about retirement income. In addition, onsite meeting presenters are trained to hold these conversations in person at the work site of those companies.
“Changing demographics continue to drive a national conversation about retirement preparedness as workers near retirement age,” said Graff. “Many clients have a large number of employees who are 50 or older and are anxious to make these resources available in their retirement plan.”
Mary Hollingsworth, Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust director of Shared Services said, “A strong partnership with our plan sponsors through focus groups and sponsor advisory councils helps us collaborate to ensure we develop practical, useful tools suited to help overcome common obstacles to retirement preparation.”
Since introducing these tools and services, Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust has conducted nearly a thousand conversations in just a few weeks. Many callers had already accessed the Retirement Income Planning Center content and had more detailed questions for Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust’s trained representatives.
“Several discussed the complexities of claiming Social Security benefits and were happy to have someone to talk to about other pre-retirement issues like healthcare costs, budgeting and creating a paycheck in retirement. We all have friends and family members struggling with the financial implications of retirement, people we keep in mind when we’re developing tools and services,” Graff said.
Original source can be found here.
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