Wachovia Offers Live Retirement Consultation to Plan Participants
CHARLOTTE, NC, September 8, 2008 -- Wachovia Retirement Services, the institutional retirement business of Wachovia, today announced that it is offering a free retirement consultation by phone to any of the employees of the 6,400 companies for which Wachovia is the 401k plan administrator. The new service for plan participants was introduced the first week of September.
The consultation, which is accessed by calling a toll-free number, is offered by Wachovia's retirement plan specialists who will engage in conversations with participants to determine if they are (1) enrolled in the plan and (2) on track to replace 80 percent of their pre-retirement income at the time of retirement. Wachovia Retirement Services advocates that employees try to contribute at least 6 percent of their pre-tax income and invest appropriately for their time horizon to retirement to maximize the potential to be "on track" for retirement.
"We must get Americans to focus on their retirement and to think proactively about how much income they are on track to generate in their retirement years," said Joe Ready, Executive Vice President and head of Wachovia Retirement Services. "As numerous studies have shown, inertia or plan complexity result in a lack of action, which results in participants not reaching their required savings level. We believe that a live retirement consultation will give participants a snapshot of what they need to do to improve retirement income projections-and this will, over time, become a motivator for preparing for the future."
Wachovia conducted a pilot to determine the impact of a free retirement consultation offering to Wachovia Retirement Services plan participants during the month of June, and the results show most employees are not on track to save for their retirement.
- Of the 736 free retirement consultations offered, 43 percent accepted the consultation (318).
- Of those who accepted the consultation, only 8 percent were "on track" to recreate 80 percent of their pre-retirement income; 92 percent were "off track."
- Forty percent took action and either enrolled, increased deferrals or changed allocations.
"These are tough economic times, and people need access to cash for day-to-day expenses," Ready said. "However, this pilot confirms for us that people need help and want to talk to skilled retirement professionals about actions they need to take to improve retirement outcome. From our perspective, we are encouraged that almost half of the participants who accepted the consultation proactively made changes to their plans."
At Wachovia, any customer or prospective customer who comes to a bank branch or calls can obtain a free retirement consultation.
The information provided as part of the Retirement Consultation is for educational purposes only and does not constitute investment, financial, tax or legal advice.
About Wachovia Retirement Services
Wachovia Retirement Services is part of the Retirement and Investment Products Group, a division of Wachovia's Capital Management Group. Wachovia Retirement Services provides fully bundled defined contribution, defined benefit and nonqualified retirement plans to both small and large companies, unions and municipalities. More complete information about Wachovia Retirement Services is accessible online at wachovia.com/401k.
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