Vanguard Joins Forces with HelloWallet Financial Wellness Service

Vanguard announced that it has partnered with HelloWallet, a financial wellness service, to help employees save more for retirement by addressing the money pressures and behaviors that stand in their way.

HelloWallet provides personalized, unbiased guidance to individuals on managing their debt, spending wisely, and maximizing their company benefits.

In a release, Vanguard said that it expects that the service will help many employees become more engaged in managing their finances.

"Vanguard's research and years of experience with millions of investors have shown that most employees simply want someone to tell them what to do. While we will continue to provide educational content and calculators to participants as important sources of guidance, HelloWallet is based on a deep understanding of an individual's needs, preferences, and behaviors, which results in more personal guidance," said Amy Cribbs, head of Vanguard Participant Experience. "Vanguard is committed to helping people achieve financial success, and HelloWallet provides a financial wellness component that complements our educational content and advice services. We believe that HelloWallet has a sound approach that can make it easy for employees to manage their personal finances by nudging them into making appropriate decisions."

HelloWallet combines behavioral economics and the psychology of decision-making with technology to examine individuals' debt, spending, and savings behaviors, and provide incremental guidance on making appropriate decisions around those areas.

"We're thrilled to be partnering with Vanguard to help employees make the most out of their compensation and benefits," said HelloWallet founder and CEO Matt Fellowes. "This partnership will allow us to provide more Americans with the guidance necessary to increase their monthly savings, pay off debt faster, and improve their use of health and retirement benefits. Employers win, too, as they need innovative solutions to help their workforce manage the increasingly complex and self-directed benefits offered in the workplace."

"There is a great mission alignment between Vanguard and HelloWallet," Cribbs said. "We pride ourselves as the firm that America trusts and can turn to for retirement help. Part of delivering on that responsibility is helping retirement plan participants and other employees create healthy financial habits and achieve retirement success. HelloWallet is in a unique position to complement our retirement planning programs by guiding employees around the issues that impact their financial choices every day."

Vanguard is an investment management company. As of December 31, 2013, Vanguard managed more than $2.45 trillion in U.S. mutual fund assets.

((Comments on this story may be sent to health@closeupmedia.com))