One America Launches Website for Tax-Exempt Plan Advisers

The new Tax Exempt Center of Excellence website is a central hub for advisers and financial professionals to access information about OneAmerica tax-exempt plan products and services.

OneAmerica has launched its Tax Exempt Center of Excellence website to help financial professionals navigate the retirement industry in light of major regulation spanning the last decade and ongoing into the future.

“With over 52 years’ experience in the tax-exempt market, we are seen as a thought leader in this space, and have a responsibility to help educate financial professionals looking to service this unique market,” says Bill Yoerger, president of retirement services. “The website provides building blocks for those who wish to learn more about tax-exempt.”

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The m​​ain page offers an overview of different plan types that OneAmerica services in addition to relative case studies. The Knowledge Repository section provides an overview of tax-exempt products and services, as well as links to related marketing materials.

“We’ve never had a central location for financial professionals to access tax-exempt specific industry information, marketing materials, training and education, and information on our products and services,”​says website creator and senior marketing consultant Sara Gomez-Villalta. “This is unique and not something I have seen a lot of, from a competitive standpoint, in the marketplace.”

According to the firm, tax-exempt business is a recordkeeping segment that accounts for roughly 32% of retirement services’ overall book of business, and 40% of new business.​ The company adds, “The tax-exempt market continues to grow, with participants reaching 24.6 million and year-to-date contributions up over 13%. Over the next three years, 403(b) assets are expected to grow 30%.” ​​

The website can be accessed here.

TD Ameritrade Finds Savers More Likely to Achieve Investing Targets

TD Ameritrade breaks down U.S. adults as savers or spenders in a new study that analyzes long-term saving for retirement.

Boomers are saving twice as much for retirement as Millennials, with a median of $300 vs. $150 per month and despite the fact that Millennials are saving for other things, more than two-thirds (72 percent) have already started saving for retirement. This is according to the TD Ameritrade Millennials and Money Survey of 2100 U.S. adults identified as either savers or spenders.

“While we’ve learned that the majority of Americans have positive savings habits, we can’t ignore the fact that a significant number of non-savers find long-term saving to be difficult, if not impossible,” Dara Luber, a retirement and long-term investing professional at TD Ameritrade in New York. For example:

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  • Of those who aren’t saving, two-thirds (67%) of Millennials and more than half (56%) of Boomers say they can’t afford to save
  • More than a quarter (26%) of non-retired Boomers expect that they will never fully retire, along with 23% of Millennials
  • 14 percent of Millennial spenders say they are spenders because they have so much debt, they don’t care about saving anymore
  • Millennials hold more non-mortgage debt at $15,000, than Boomers do at $10,000
  • Four in 10 (39%) of Millennials are paying off student loans by making median monthly payments of $200

 According to the research, 82% of Millennials are saving for something other than retirement, such as vacation or an emergency fund while 80% of Boomers, who are nearing a time when they may no longer work, are saving primarily for retirement.

“Everyone needs to start somewhere, and a commitment to a regular long-term savings plan – no matter how small – is well worth the effort,” Luber said. “If your end goal seems daunting, break it down into smaller goals and celebrate milestones along the way. Use these small happy moments as motivation toward your big money goals like retirement.”

TD Ameritrade’s 2016 Goal Planning Survey shows that people who have a savings plan with specific goals are more likely to make progress toward fulfilling their savings or investing targets.

One in four Millennials are saving for a down-payment on a home, almost one in five (18%) are saving for education and one in 10 for a wedding/civil ceremony.

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