Cause the Effect: Reframing Corporate Retirement Benefits to Improve Financial Independence
It might be time to retire the word retirement! After decades of promoting retirement benefits programs, we are learning that employees think in different terms. In the 2022 "Voice of the American Worker" research study conducted by The Harris Poll, on behalf of Franklin Templeton and the Retirement Innovation Initiative (RII), employees tell us that living comfortably and independently are more important than reaching retirement, in the traditional sense of the word. In addition to the talent retention challenge in a tight labor market, the lack of financial health in a workforce has a direct impact on the bottom lines of companies around the country. A focus on well-being continues to include urgency in improving financial health with key opportunities for employer support.
Understanding your employees' needs is step one. Next, we need concrete, actionable ideas for employers to reframe their corporate retirement benefits in a way that meets their employees' goal of financial independence. Attend this session to do just that!
Learning Objectives:
- How American workers are re-evaluating their view of work and what they expect from their employers.
- Use your employer sponsored savings plan (formerly known as retirement plan) to promote financial health and progress.
- Evaluate existing vendor relationships in your benefits offering to reframe employee communication holistically to help individuals attain financial freedom or independence.
- Help working Americans reduce their amount of stress when it comes to their personal finances.
In-person session offerings are on a first-come, first-served basis.
Brought to you by: Raymond James
Kristen M. Koluch, CFA , CFP
Kristen has dedicated her career to helping people prepare for the most significant milestone in life – retirement. She helps corporate plan sponsors and their retirement, investment and finance committees meet their fiduciary responsibilities; and strives to help their employees and beneficiaries make meaningful progress toward their financial goals. Kristen is co-head of the investment committee and leads the portfolio research team for her team’s institutional clients.
She also leads her team’s Women & Investing initiative. She understands that female investors often face a complicated financial situation, balancing the roles of mother, daughter, wife, grandmother, colleague and friend – while putting their own needs last. As part of this initiative, she plans and hosts educational events for female investors.
As a Chartered Financial Analyst®, Kristen holds one of the world’s most respected and recognized investment designations, giving her the skills needed for high-level, specialized asset-management responsibilities, including security analysis, portfolio management and business reporting. In 2020, Kristen obtained her CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM certification, demonstrating her commitment to her profession.
Prior to joining Raymond James in 2015, she worked at Merrill Lynch as a financial advisor for over twelve years and has prior experience as an investment banking analyst. Kristen maintains Series 7, 63, 66 and Life, Accident, & Health Insurance licenses. She graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University and currently resides in Congers, NY.
Jacquelyn Reardon
Jacque is Vice President, Head of Retirement, Insurance, & 529 Marketing at Franklin Templeton, joining via the Legg Mason integration in 2020. She continues her responsibilities for developing the marketing strategy for the US retirement business, including insurance and subadvisory and DCIO, which she has done since joining Legg Mason in June of 2019. She manages a team of marketing specialists to implement this strategy and partners closely with the sales leaders of each distribution channel to ensure priorities are aligned. She also plays a key role in managing the marketing relationships with many of our strategic partner firms and has helped to implement improved prioritization and communication processes within the broader marketing organization.
Prior to joining Legg Mason, she spent 7 years at AllianceBernstein leading the marketing efforts for their insurance and subadvisory business after initially joining the firm in a sales role for the same channel. Jacque had a long tenure in sales prior to making the move to marketing, including previous roles at Guardian Investor Services in Boston, MA and Lincoln Financial Distributors in Radnor, PA, promoting both retirement and variable annuity product solutions.
Jacque maintains Series 6, 7, 24, 63, and Life, Accident, & Health Insurance licenses. She graduated from Villanova University with a B.A. in Psychology.
