American Express Unveils Personalized Retirement Evaluation

According to American Express, its Retirement Evaluation Program gives participants an enhanced picture of their progress toward meeting retirement goals.

The program, made up of four planning tools generating different savings profiles, automatically matches each participant to their most appropriate profile.

Using the participant’s payroll and plan information, the profile generates an analysis of their retirement savings needs, whether it is participation or deferral rate, goal-setting or asset allocation.  Employees receive this statement in the mail.

Program Elements

The elements of the program include:

• Targeted to individuals who are either not participating or participating under the company match (if applicable), this personalized report uses an employee’s salary information to show how money can grow, the cost of waiting and what the impact of an increase in their contribution rate is on net-take home pay.
• Plan sponsors can choose to include a Quick Enroll form.  By signing the Quick Enroll form, the participant agrees to a client-selected deferral rate and investment election(s) and is enrolled in the plan.
• The Goal Achievement Projection is geared toward helping plan participants set a retirement goal.  Using a participant’s salary and age information, it creates a projection outlining what a participant’s estimated annual retirement income needs will be based on the defined goal.
• The Personal Investment Education Guide helps participants better understand the investments offered in their plan and the importance of diversification through a user-friendly guide designed to help alleviate participants anxieties about making asset-allocation decisions.