Principal® Expands Retirement Plan Access to Hispanic Workers by Taking Savings Mobile

By: Principal Financial Group via Business Wire

November 01, 2021 at 09:00 AM EDT

Retirement industry leader adds Spanish-language option to retirement app, enhancing suite of resources customized to address savings gap for Hispanic workers

Principal Financial Group^® announced today an expansion of its suite of retirement solutions for Hispanic workers by adding a Spanish-language option to its mobile retirement app. This enhancement is designed to help increase retirement savings and management access to the thousands of Hispanic workers Principal^® serves as many face a retirement savings gap made worse by the pandemic.¹

“Cultural and language barriers can often limit the engagement of Hispanic workers and hinder retirement outcomes, particularly during times of economic uncertainty,” said Joleen Workman, vice president of customer care, Retirement and Income Solutions at Principal.“By adding a full-service Spanish-language retirement mobile app to our solutions for Hispanic workers we are focused on helping even more people feel secure and confident in their retirement planning.”

Principal brings the Spanish-language mobile app to participants at a time when mobile use for retirement saving and planning has increased significantly. In 2019, over 21% of participants used the retirement app via a mobile device, with that rate jumping to 37% of participants on mobile devices instead of desktops this year. ²

Research also shows that access to employer-sponsored retirement plans for Hispanic workers is lower as compared to other groups: 48% of Hispanic workers with fulltime jobs don’t have access to plans as compared to 24% for other fulltime workers.³ The Principal^® app’s bilingual capability can help assure employers they can reach more Hispanic workers. The app provides the appropriate language in Spanish or English based on a user’s phone language setting, allowing Spanish-speaking users to:

Check retirement account balances
Make contribution decisions
Monitor their retirement progress
Get immediate assistance from bilingual customer support

The Spanish-language app is available to all Principal customers and adds to the company’s Principal®Hola Futuro, a free educational and financial wellness resource for the Hispanic community. It will also be an immediate resource for Spanish-speaking workers who onboard with Principal® Real Start en Español, a bilingual digital enrollment platform.

¹ About four-in-ten Hispanic adults (43%) say they have used money from a savings or retirement account to pay their bills since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak compared with 29% of White adults and 33% of Asian adults (The Pew Research Center, Sept. 24, 2020).

² Principal reporting as of March 31, 2021.

³ The Pew Charitable Trusts, September 2017.

Beyond language

The advancement of the mobile app is part of the Principal approach of building customer experiences that go beyond just language. The company has a bicultural approach which doesn’t just translate for Spanish-speaking audiences, but takes cultural influences into account to accurately express meaning and purpose.

Principal^® Hola Futuro (“Hello Future”) is an accessible, culturally-appropriate resource providing employees with financial wellness videos, worksheets, FAQs, and access to a bicultural support team. In addition, Principal^® Real Start en Español is a personalized retirement plan onboarding experience available in Spanish and English. Since 2019, Real Start has led to an average savings deferral rate of 8% among Hispanic participants.

“To make financial security more accessible, we are creating opportunities to reach more people and businesses,” Workman said. “This mobile retirement savings platform is an important step in that work.”

To learn more, download the Principal® app today and visit Principal® Hola Futuro.

About Principal Financial Group®

Principal Financial Group^® (Nasdaq: PFG) is a global financial company with 18,000 employees^[1] passionate about improving the wealth and well-being of people and businesses. In business for more than 140 years, we’re helping more than 45.5 million customers^[2] plan, insure, invest, and retire, while working to support the communities where we do business, improve our planet, and build a diverse, inclusive workforce. Principal^®is proud to be recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies^[3], a member of the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index, and a Top 10 “Best Places to Work in Money Management^[4].” Learn more about Principal and our commitment to sustainability, inclusion, and purpose at principal.com.

^[1] As of June 30, 2021.

^[2] As of June 30, 2021.

^[3] Ethisphere Institute, 2021.

^[4] Pensions & Investments, 2020.

Principal^® app is available for iPhone^® and Android^TM. Apple and iPhone are registered trademarks of Apple Inc.

Android is a trademark of Google LLC.

The Retirement Wellness Planner information and Retirement Wellness Score are limited only to the inputs and other financial assumptions and is not intended to be a financial plan or investment advice from any company of the Principal Financial Group® or plan sponsor. This calculator only provides education which may be helpful in making personal financial decisions. Responsibility for those decisions is assumed by the participant, not the plan sponsor and not by any member of Principal®. Individual results will vary. Participants should regularly review their savings progress and post-retirement needs.

Insurance products issued by Principal National Life Insurance Co (except in NY) and Principal Life Insurance Co. Plan administrative services offered by Principal Life. Principal Funds, Inc. is distributed by Principal Funds Distributor, Inc. Securities offered through Principal Securities, Inc., 800-247-1737, member SIPC and/or independent broker/-dealers. Referenced companies are members of the Principal Financial Group^®, Des Moines, Iowa 50392.