Principal Launches Retirement Education Program for Hispanics

Research from The Principal shows Hispanic workers born outside of the United States have the lowest retirement plan participation rate of all other workers, often due to language barriers and cultural influences. To that end, Principal’s new program will not only translate retirement education materials into Spanish, but also address the cultural underpinnings that may influence how Hispanic employees think about their financial futures.

“Our research found that simply translating materials to Spanish, without considering overall cultural views, falls short in encouraging U.S. Hispanic workers to save for retirement,” says Greg Burrows, senior vice president, The Principal, based in Des Moines. “Retirement plans are not universally appealing to all groups. This new program takes a holistic approach, recognizing that an employer-sponsored plan may be a new concept depending on the level of acculturation of the work force, and incorporating culturally appropriate retirement education services.”

According to The Principal’s research, when exposed to such an approach, many Hispanic workers take favorable savings actions. The Principal also found once U.S. Hispanic workers start to participate in a company plan, they tend to embrace saving for a long-term goal.

The program provides retirement education for employees built around key concepts that incorporate cultural relevance. The education can be tailored based on the characteristics of a given U.S. Hispanic work force.

“Hispanics are expected to account for 75% of the nation’s work force growth in the next decade,” says Burrows. “Financial professionals have a significant opportunity to help employers meet the specific retirement needs of this younger, burgeoning demographic. Our program is a differentiator because it goes beyond language to address cultural influences.”

The Principal offers a number of materials to help those with Hispanic members of their work force, including a report title “U.S. Hispanic Retirement Attitudes: How Cultural Influences Can Impact Retirement Savings.” A copy of the eight-page report can be found here. More information about the education program can be found here.