It's about time
Helping participants make the most of your retirement plan with our personalized participant engagement program
Program overview
Our award-winning¹ participant engagement program—available at no additional cost to you—harnesses the power of plan and participant data to deliver personalized suggestions right to your participants’ inboxes, help them save for retirement, and meet their financial goals. Throughout the year, they receive relevant emails that reflect where they are today on their path to retirement, plus individualized support timed around key events and decisions.
Enrollment
Motivating nonparticipating employees to enroll and start saving
Onboarding
Educating participants about available plan features and benefits during their first year of saving
Retirement readiness
Encouraging participants to take steps to help reach their goals and maximize their retirement savings
Planning
Providing resources and suggested actions to help participants strengthen their financial health
Achieving retirement balance
Helping participants ages 50 and older actively prepare for retirement
Transitioning
Educating participants on their options and next steps for their account when retiring or changing jobs
Year one onboarding experience
After enrolling in the plan, every new participant receives a series of emails highlighting available plan features and resources to help ensure they get off to a good start saving and makes the most of your retirement plan.²
Welcome and online account registration
Getting personalized retirement advice⁵
Naming beneficiaries to pass on their retirement account
And participants are getting the message
63% of newly enrolled participants who receive year-one onboarding communications engaged with the onboarding program.⁶
Participant touch points
We use data-driven content, personalized suggestions, and education events to engage and motivate your participants. Our outreach program is available in both English and Spanish, providing a more inclusive experience. And it helps promote action, which can lead to higher participation rates, contribution rates, and retirement readiness.
Financial well-being quarterly
Every quarter, participants receive personalized financial wellness support based on their age, available plan features, and digital behaviors. The personalized outreach includes helpful tips and education that they can put to work right away.
Journey-based participant outreach²
We send personalized emails that can help drive retirement readiness by helping:
- Eligible and active participants get their retirement goals on track
- Preretirees (age 50+) make the most of their time left to save and their time in retirement
- Participants understand the planning tools and services available in your plan and important next steps
Live webinars
Our retirement specialists host a series of workshops throughout the year to help participants plan for tomorrow while meeting their current financial needs.
Sidelining financial stress
Easing money worries can help participants focus on their retirement and other long-term goals.
January
1/28/25-2/14/25
Financial well-being quarterly
Topic: Solutions to top financial stressors
On-demand education: Strengthening your financial goals
March
3/11/25-3/21/25
Journey-based participant outreach²
Nudges participants to start saving, save more, or consider personalizing their retirement strategy based on their needs
Steps to help keep your goals on track
Building healthy money habits can help participants save for retirement and strengthen their financial health.
April
4/22/25-5/9/25
Financial well-being quarterly
Topic: The importance of staying engaged with finances
On-demand education: Talking to your kids about money
June
6/3/25-6/13/25
Journey-based participant outreach²
Nudges participants to start saving, save more, or consider personalizing their retirement strategy based on their needs
Celebrate your wins
Seeing the progress they're making can motivate participants to keep working toward their retirement goals.
July
7/22/25-8/15/25
Financial well-being quarterly
Topic: Celebrate the progress made toward financial goals and priorities
On-demand education: Midyear market outlook and trends
September
9/9/25-9/19/25
Journey-based participant outreach²
National 401(k) Day celebration email and webinar invite.
Nudges participants to start saving, save more, or consider personalizing their retirement strategy based on their needs
Stay budget focused and cyber safe
During the holidays, it's even more important for participants to be cyber aware when shopping online and avoid the urge to splurge.
October
10/28/25-11/14/25
Financial well-being quarterly
Topic: Budget-friendly tips for holiday spending
On-demand education: Cybersafety
December
Holiday break
Additional outreach to encourage proactive retirement planning
Advocacy campaigns
At John Hancock, we're all about partnership, and that includes working with you to help optimize engagement. You can easily integrate our advocacy campaigns into your internal communication channels to help you reinforce positive saving and planning behaviors.
Q1
Week of 2/18/25
Actions participants can take to help tackle their financial priorities
Q2
Week of 5/20/25
Steps to help keep participants on track and engaged with their finances
Q3
Week of 8/26/25
Reviewing early progress and a guide to finishing the year strong
Q4
Holiday break
Resources to help participants understand key financial wellness topics
Well-being
Estate planning
Investing
Market volatility
Insight to help you evaluate participant engagement and plan health
Your John Hancock representative can create these detailed reports on request to help you understand how your plan is doing.
We believe in the power of a plan
We help participants plug into the power of your retirement plan through consistent and holistic personalized support and engagement.
1 "WealthManagement.com 2024 Industry Award (the "Wealthies")," winner of Retirement Plan Support and Advisor Services, 401(k) Services Category, WealthManagement.com, 2024. 2 Messaging is tailored to participants based on age (under or over age 50), plan status (active or terminated with account balance), and other factors. Not all participants will receive all messages. 3 As other options are available such as leaving it in their old plan, rolling over to an IRA, or cashing out, participants are encouraged to review all their options to determine if combining retirement accounts is suitable for them. 4 The projected retirement income estimates for your current John Hancock accounts, future contributions, employer contributions (if applicable), and other accounts set aside for retirement used in this calculator are hypothetical, for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute investment advice. Results are not guaranteed and do not represent the current or future performance of any specific account or investment. Due to market fluctuations and other factors, it is possible that investment objectives may not be met. Investing involves risks, and past performance does not guarantee future results. 5 Subject to plan availability. Participation in John Hancock Personalized Retirement Advice (Retirement Advice) does not guarantee investment success. Investing involves risks, including the potential loss of principal. Fees for this service are based on a tiered schedule and vary by account balance. For more information, consult the Retirement Advice investment advisory agreement. John Hancock Personal Financial Services, LLC (JHPFS), an SEC registered investment adviser and affiliate of John Hancock Retirement Plan Services LLC (JHRPS), is the investment manager of the Retirement Advice program. JHPFS has selected Morningstar Investment Management LLC, a registered investment adviser and wholly owned subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc., to act as the independent financial expert (as defined in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Advisory Opinion 2001-09A) for Retirement Advice. JHPFS monitors Morningstar Investment Management’s performance. Morningstar Investment Management LLC is not affiliated with JHRPS, JHPFS, or affiliates. JHPFS acts as a fiduciary with respect to the management of Retirement Advice investments. 6 John Hancock internal data, as of 9/20/2024. Of the 491,705 total members onboarded since program inception in 2021, 310,406 opened/clicked on the communications.
Important disclosures
John Hancock Personal Financial Services, LLC is an SEC registered investment adviser. John Hancock Personal Financial Services, LLC, 200 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA 02116.
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