THE FINANCIAL WELLNESS GURU

MARK SINGER

2 0 1 8 M E D I A K I T

The Case for Financial WellnessThe ProblemIn the past, financial wellness was a “nice to have.” Now it’s becoming a requirement for both the advisory community and plan sponsors. For advisors, the need to stay competitive, retain clients, and gain new business is paramount. For plan sponsors, persistent employee stress and financial insecurity necessitate a holistic, measurable, easy-to-implement approach. However, in this changing landscape, many advisors and plan sponsors are unsure of how to get started or how to properly implement a robust wellness plan.

The SolutionIn the summer of 2017, The Financial Literacy Toolbox piloted a nationwide financial wellness challenge to over 120 participants in eight organizations. The five-week program focused on providing participants with information and tools to enable them to:• Identify financial stressors in their lives.• Set specific goals to improve their current financial affairs.• Become better informed on overall financial planning issues.• Improve the potential of a better retirement.Combining video presentations, articles, and worksheets, the program allowed participants to examine their own unique situations and develop a plan that allows them to move more confidently into their financial futures.

The ResultsBased on before and after surveys provided to the participants, the results of the program were impressive:• 96% of participants found the five-

week beta program to be helpful.• The percentage of participants who

felt “stressed” about their personal finances fell from 52.4% to 19.2% after completing the program.

• Over 15% of participants increased their retirement plan contributions after completing the program.

• Over half (56%) of participants be-lieve they are now better able to manage their monthly cash flow.

Despite its demonstrated importance, it is still difficult for advisors and plan sponsors to “hit the start button” and move forward with a coordinated financial wellness program for employees. Your Financial Journey helps overcome some of the biggest obstacles to execution: it’s simple to use and measurable for the organization, and positively impacts those employees who participate.

The Current State of Financial Wellness

• Employees who are stressed about their finances are both less productive and in worse financial shape than other employees. The results are concerning.*

• For an individual who cannot retire, the cost to the employer averages $50,000 a year.†

• In five years, the number of plan sponsors using a wellness program should increase from 17% to 51%.‡

* PWC April 2017, Employee Finan-cial Wellness Survey

† Prudential Financial, “Why Employ-ers Should Care About the Cost of Delayed Retirements”

‡ Hartford Study, July 2017

Mark Singer, CFP®, is recognized as a thought leader in the world of financial wellness. He has written several books, and the latest, The New Financial Wellness: Changing the Conversation, compiles insights and information from renowned experts within both the retirement plan space and financial wellness. Singer has three decades of experience in the financial advisory field. As part of his commitment to find innovative ways to enhance financial literacy within the corporate world, he developed and launched The Financial Literacy Toolbox, which offers a suite of educational solutions for both plan sponsors and plan participants. In September of 2017, he completed a ground-breaking study that chronicled how a targeted financial wellness program can have a significant impact on employees’ stress levels and retirement plan contributions.

Singer is a frequent speaker at major industry events and writes a monthly blog for Employee Benefit Adviser and 401k Specialist.

Books by Mark Singer:• The New Financial Wellness: Changing the Conversation, 2015• The Six Secrets to a Happy Retirement: How to Master the Transition

of a Lifetime, 2013 (editor)

Speaking Engagements:• EXCEL 401k Conference, October 2017, Las Vegas, NV• Dimensional Annual Conference, July 2017, Chicago, IL• SHRM National Webinar, June 2017• LIMRA Annual Conference, April 2017, Orlando, FL• EBN National Conference, September 2016, Nashville, TN• Matrix National Conference, August 2016, Keystone, CO• BPAS Annual Conference, May 2016, Philadelphia, PA• Prudential/PLANSPONSOR Webinar, March 2016• Dimensional Retirement Plan Webinar, January 2016, Austin, TX• PSCA Annual National Conference, October 2015, Chicago, IL• PSCA Annual National Conference, September 2014, Miami, FL• Worksite Wellness Council of Massachusetts: Creating a Culture of

Wellness, September 2014, Boston, MA • Advisor One’s Think Retirement Symposium, November 2013,

Boston, MA

Mark Singer, CFP®

Presentation TopicsIs Financial Wellness a Waste of Time?The topic of financial wellness has been hot for a while. For many, though, it is still just a matter for discussion — one not yet ripe for action. In this seminar, Mark details the hurdles facing advisors, plan sponsors, and corporations attempting to implement wellness plans; describes why financial wellness matters; and shows how they can “change the conversation” in order to get moving and get results.

How to Hit the Easy Button and Deliver an Effective Financial Wellness Program Once you understand the importance of financial wellness and commit to actually delivering an effective program, the big question is: With all of the tools available, how do you actually get started? In this session, Mark shares the five necessary steps to rolling out an effective financial wellness program, and how you can begin putting them into practice today.

Financial Wellness: Leveraging New Technologies for Greater ImpactFinancial professionals today have so many technologies at their disposal that it’s easy to forget what their real purpose is. A fuzzy technology strategy that isn’t focused on improving client outcomes and lowering financial stress is a waste of valuable time and money. In this presentation, Mark shares how to use technology effectively and efficiently to improve connections with your employees and/or plan participants.

How to Measure the Outcome of Delivering Financial WellnessIn the health wellness space, tracking the success of a particular program like weight loss or lowering one’s cholesterol is easy to benchmark and monitor. Things are a little trickier in the financial wellness space. Understanding what to measure and how to properly communicate these metrics’ benefits is a complex process that often depends on a client’s individual needs. Here, Mark offers some easily identifiable benchmarks so you can quickly determine if your financial wellness program is effective.

Why You Should Survey Your Plan Participants, and What You Might LearnOne of the great hurdles in delivering financial wellness is that the very definition of the term is so broad. Depending on whether you are an HR/benefits professional, a high-level corporate manager, a plan consultant, or an employee, the perspective on what financial wellness is can vary greatly. In this program, Mark discusses why it is important to start the conversation with plan participants and how to leverage surveys to help identify the kind of financial wellness program that would work best in your organization.

Praise for Mark Singer“Mark was instrumental in making our webcast an unqualified success! His insights and expertise on financial wellness programs were truly enlightening, and the tools and best practices he outlined were tremendously helpful in driving our messages home to the audience.... I can honestly say that I consider him a valued partner in our efforts to ‘change the conversation’ with regard to financial wellness and financial literacy in the corporate world, and look forward to working with him again.”

— Jennie Steele Director, Institutional Content Strategy, Prudential Retirement

“As a senior consultant for an international benefits firm, we have recognized the need to bring financial wellness to our clients. We see this as a natural for those companies that embrace the notion of creating a ‘healthy’ work environment, and have worked diligently to present financial solutions to complement the existing health programs we monitor. Mark Singer’s Financial Literacy Toolbox offers a suite of solutions that is timely and well packaged. Additionally, Mark’s ability to help us create customized programs for a recent client was very much appreciated. It was clear that he has the knowledge, experience and passion to deliver a financial wellness platform that we will continue to promote to our clientele.”

— Lisa Koch Senior Consultant, Client Services, Longfellow Benefits

“Mark Singer stands out as a champion for Financial Wellness and a passionate advocate for helping Americans find the tools they need to help them make better financial decisions. As a featured speaker at PSCA’s 67th Annual National Conference, he shared his latest effective suite of solutions — the Financial Literacy Toolbox. This comprehensive package delivers innovative programs to help plan sponsors help their employees achieve their financial goals.”

— Robert A. Benish Interim President and Executive Director,

Plan Sponsor Council of America

“Mark is an outstanding financial wellness expert; he is our ‘go to’ speaker, I highly recommend engaging Mark and his best-in-class wellness programs. Every year we look forward to partnering with Mark; his presentations are core to our focus on the intersection of asset management and the delivery of financial wellness.”

— Tim Kohn Head of Defined Contribution Services and Vice President,

Dimensional Financial Advisors

BOOKS BY MARK SINGER

The New Financial Wellness: Changing the Conversation

This book explores the root causes of financial illiteracy and how to correct them. It shows how the lack of financial literacy begins with the everyday lives of employees, and how the lack of financial education can impact the overall productiv-ity of the American workforce. This signifi-cantly impacts the bottom line of employers, as well as the ability of workers to save for their retirement futures.

Mark explores practical solutions that can be implemented to improve financial literacy in the workforce, help relieve employee stress-ors, improve productivity among workers, and help them to more effectively save for their retirement futures. Working together, we can “Change the Conversation” and be-gin to build better financial outcomes.

What’s in the book:• A Financial Wellness Gap — A Lengthy Journey• Retirement Is a Journey, Not an End• Employers Can Help Address Financial Literacy• What Is Financial Literacy, Really?• Stress Impacts the Bottom Line for Employees and Employers• Increase the Bottom Line by Helping Distressed Employees During

Challenging Financial Times• It Is Time to CHANGE THE CONVERSATION• Success Story — Putting It All Together

“Mark captures the very essence of the real retirement three-legged stool: the advisor, the plan sponsor, and the plan participant. His insights on financial well-ness provide solutions that everyone in the retirement industry should be aware of and consider implementing.”

— Karen Betts, twenty-plus-year retirement industry executive

BOOKS BY MARK SINGER

The Six Secrets to a Happy Retirement: How to Master the Transition of a Lifetime.

Retirement. It’s what most working people live for, isn’t it? That time when there are clocks, no boss, and no deadlines. If retirement is supposed to be bliss, why are so many people depressed and discouraged living in retirement? The reason is that most people don’t know how to prepare. They focus on their “number” — that magical amount that will carry them through and allow them to follow their dreams. But they don’t focus on all of the other aspects of retirement: Health, wellness, living out the second half of life, and living options.

After working with retirees for over 25 years, Mark Singer started to see patterns. He understood what made the difference between those enjoying re-tirement, and those just in retirement. Now, for the first time, Mark has compiled information from five experts into one book to help you master the transition of a lifetime.

Contributors include:• Mark Singer CFP®, author of The Changing Landscape of Retire-

ment – What You Don’t Know Could Hurt You• Kurt Czarnowski, Former Regional Communications Director for

the Social Security Administration• Roberta Taylor, RNCS, M.Ed., and Dorian Mintzer, M.S.W., Ph.D.,

co-authors of The Couple’s Retirement Puzzle: 10 Must-Have Con-versations for Transitioning to the Second Half of Life

• Sallie Felton, life coach, in ternational radio talk show host, author, facilitator, inspirational speaker, and president of Sallie Felton LLC

• Dr. Peter Martone, owner and director of Atlantis Chiropractic Well-ness Centers

• Erwin Allado, founder of SeniorCareHomes.com

“The Six Secrets to a Happy Retirement should be mandatory reading! The phi-losophy of addressing financial, emotional and physical issues before they become an issue is brilliant. The star-studded collection of authors share their expertise in a clear and concise way that makes it easy for the reader to follow along and therefore reap the rewards of learning the information.”

—Dr. Celina Spence

Contact Mark Singer Visit www.financialliteracytoolbox.com

Call 781-599-5009

Email mark@financialliteracytoolbox.com