Alight Financial Advisors, in partnership with Financial Engines, provides advisory services to participants in employer sponsored retirement plans. These services include a printed Retirement Evaluation, Online Advice, a Professional Management Program and Income+, an optional income solution that is designed to provide a steady payment stream in retirement.
The Retirement Evaluation is mailed to all eligible participants in an employer sponsored retirement plan for which Alight Solutions provides recordkeeping services. It highlights areas where a participants’ current savings and investment strategy could be improved and provides the participant the opportunity to receive additional help based on their individual needs. The Retirement Evaluation is a call to action and encourages the participant to take appropriate steps to obtain the help needed by linking to the Online Advice and Professional Management enrollment sites via the Alight Solutions Your Benefits Resources™ web site.
Designed for participants who prefer to manage their own accounts, Online Advice provides participants with specific, personalized savings and investment advice to help them reach their retirement goals. Easy and convenient to find, Online Advice is integrated on the Alight Solutions Your Benefits Resources™ web site, making advice readily available.
Participants see a forecast that shows how likely they are to reach their desired retirement goals. Through Online Advice, participants are provided recommendations on which investments to buy or sell and simulate how their portfolios might perform under a wide variety of economic scenarios. Participants can enhance the quality of the advice provided by adding in additional sources of income that may be available at retirement (e.g., after tax savings, other retirement plans). They can also change other assumptions used in calculating income at retirement, including retirement age. All customizations are created in real time, using built-in forecasting tools available on the Online Advice website.
For participants who lack the desire, time or investment expertise to manage their own retirement accounts and “just want a professional to handle it for them”, the Alight Solutions Professional Management program offers personalized, professional ongoing portfolio management.
An initial Retirement Plan is created, and the participant is encouraged to further personalize his or her plan by providing more information on personal preferences, risk tolerance and other assets that he or she holds outside of the employer sponsored retirement plan account. The printed Retirement Plan includes three key components: an investments plan, savings plan, and retirement income plan. It summarizes the planned changes in asset allocation for the retirement account.
On an ongoing basis, each participant's portfolio is reviewed every month. Transactions are executed, if necessary, to reallocate the investments. Participants stay on track through a quarterly, printed or electronic, Retirement Update report that shows how they are progressing toward their retirement goals and describes any changes made to their investment allocations. At any time, participants can speak with a registered Investment Advisor to discuss their progress or further tailor their portfolio to their personal circumstances.
The Professional Management program helps participants transition into retirement through a Retirement Check Up. All members 50+ years old are invited to partake in a phone consultation with an advisor with a focus on their goal, additional outside investment accounts and other sources of income.
An optional feature of Professional Management, Income+ is a comprehensive retirement income solution designed specifically for 401(k) Plans to provide steady monthly payouts that can last for life.* When an Income+ member is ready to start taking income, their portfolio is specifically managed to provide monthly retirement payouts from their 401(k) that:
The transition from an accumulation focus to an income focus begins five years before planned retirement age. During this period, the portfolio is gradually reallocated to predominantly fixed income. The Income+ feature also allows members flexibility in the timing and amount of their payouts. Members choose when to start their payouts. They also can suspend payouts at any time or take unplanned withdrawals for expenditures above and beyond normal scheduled amounts.
*Requires purchase of an out-of-plan annuity. Issuer minimum purchase requirements may apply.