Products August 7, 2020

Ascensus Creates Mobile Retirement Savings App

The READYSAVE app will leverage behavioral prompts to drive better outcomes.

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Ascensus has launched the READYSAVE retirement mobile application, which will leverage behavioral prompts and situational guidance to help drive better retirement outcomes. It was developed on Ascensus’ proprietary technology platform for use across the firm’s various institutional partners and is available to all participants at plans in which Ascensus is the recordkeeper. The aim is to help participants get on track to retirement readiness.

In developing the app, Ascensus sought feedback from institutional partners and advisers in its Elite Advisor program.

“Our goal for our participant experience aligns with that of our plan sponsor clients, institutional partners and financial adviser partners: to enable more savers to save more,” says Carl Negin, Ascensus’ chief marketing officer. “READYSAVE helps deliver on this goal, giving participants the information they need to chart the appropriate savings strategy.”

READYSAVE is available in both English and Spanish. It also features accessibility for visually impaired users. Users can check their account balances, view their rate of return and plan investments, change their savings rates and review their recent account activity. Ascensus plans to continually adjust and improve the application, based on user analytics and feedback.

Products August 7, 2020

ICMA-RC Offers Virtual Financial Planning Services to Plan Participants

The move will expand the availability of the firm’s Certified Financial Planners to working and retired participants.

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ICMA-RC has announced that it has enhanced its Guided Pathways Services program by expanding its financial planning and consultation services to better meet the needs of more working and retired participants. This will expand the virtual availability of ICMA-RC Certified Financial Planner (CFP) professionals. These CFPs will address the financial standing of a participant’s entire household, including that of their spouse or significant other.

According to a June COVID-19 research brief by the Center for State and Local Government Excellence (SLGE), sponsored by ICMA-RC, only 23% of public sector respondents currently work with a financial professional, but 53% strongly or somewhat agree that they can get the help they need to make smart financial decisions during the pandemic.

“ICMA-RC is always looking for innovative ways to support our clients, especially during times like we are facing today, when clients need more help than ever before,” says Lynne Ford, CEO and president of ICMA-RC. “This expanded service offering to meet our clients where they are will allow us to strengthen our relationships with both working participants and retirees by providing them with more targeted and comprehensive financial planning guidance they may have missed out on in the past.”

The firm will conduct the consultations via phone, online, email or mobile device. ICMA-RC will also be holding national webinars on various topics that participants can access.

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