Financial Engines
FLORIDA RETIREMENT SYSTEM LAUNCHES CHOICE PROGRAM POWERED BY FINANCIAL ENGINES TO FIRST 460,000 STATE EMPLOYEES
PALO ALTO, Calif., April 23, 2002 – Financial Engines, Inc. today announced that the Florida Retirement System (FRS) has launched its new Choice Program powered by Financial Engines. The Choice Program enables Florida state employees to choose between two FRS retirement plan options, their existing defined benefit Pension Plan and the new defined contribution Investment Plan. Information kits, including a Benefit Comparison Statement personalized for each employee, were sent out in March 2002 and April 2002 to the first two groups of employees. The first group of 160,000 employees included all state, community college and university personnel and the second group of 300,000 employees included all school district personnel.
The Benefit Comparison Statement shows employees a comparison of the benefits they may receive if they stay in the Pension Plan or if they switch to the Investment Plan, based on stated assumptions about such factors as age when the employee leaves FRS employment, salary growth rate and retirement age. Employees are encouraged to take advantage of the educational Choice Service powered by Financial Engines at www.myFRS.com, which automatically includes assumptions from the benefit comparison statement, but allows individuals to change the assumptions to see how they might affect the estimated benefit. The Choice Service also lists pros and cons of each retirement plan option to help individuals make informed decisions. Individuals can automatically implement their choice online, or by phone or mail.
"We are very excited to begin rollout of the FRS Choice Program," said Jim Francis, chief economist of the Florida State Board Administration. "We feel confident that we are giving employees the necessary information and resources to help them understand and choose the plan that will prepare them to meet their retirement goals based on the potential outcomes they might realize."
Employees also have access to the Financial Engines Investment AdvisorTM service. The service provides valuable information to every FRS employee, including a financial forecast, access to in-depth information regarding investing and fund scorecards on over 12,000 mutual funds and 8,000 stocks. If individuals choose the Investment Plan, they can take advantage of the Advisor service to select specific funds in which to invest their plan contributions. Based on their individual preferences, the Advisor service recommends investment funds to help them reach their retirement goals. The Advisor service also automatically monitors account performance and notifies individuals when changes need to be made to keep them on track.
"What we are doing with the State of Florida is unprecedented in terms of the scope of specific, personalized information being delivered to each employee to help them decide what retirement plan to choose," said Jeff Maggioncalda, president and CEO of Financial Engines. "The Benefit Comparison Statement is just the first step. The online Choice Service offers them a unique view into their future and the amount of money they may have in retirement under each plan and the Investment Advisor service can help them choose investments to match their risk preferences and retirement time horizons."
No matter which plan individuals choose, they can get a financial Forecast that includes their estimated FRS Plan Benefit. The Forecast will show them a range of income levels they might enjoy in retirement, based on their investments, savings and other retirement benefits. The Forecast makes it easy for them to evaluate their chances of reaching their retirement goals.
About Financial Engines
Financial Engines provides advice technology to help financial institutions and employers solve real-world investor problems for their clients and employees. Financial Engines' services provide specific, actionable investment recommendations based on the outcomes an investor wants to achieve and can be delivered through the web, phone, or face-to-face. More than 20 financial institutions and 700 plan sponsors have hired Financial Engines to make advice available to over 2 million individuals. Nobel Prize winning economist Bill Sharpe founded the company with a revolutionary vision: to make institutional-quality advice available to financial institutions and employers that serve individual investors. For more information on Financial Engines, visit www.financialengines.com.
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