John Hancock Expands Financial Wellness Offering to Include Emergency Savings Accounts and Comprehensive College Planning Tools

Enhances suite of financial wellness resources to help participants manage competing financial priorities

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BOSTON, Feb. 19, 2020 /CNW/ - John Hancock is helping retirement plan participants work toward retirement readiness with two new tools designed to help solve the challenges of unexpected expenses and planning for and funding higher education costs.

"If people are able to manage and prioritize their day-to-day expenses, they are also better able to allocate money toward their retirement savings," said Patrick Murphy, CEO, John Hancock Retirement. "We purposely offer a robust financial wellness program at John Hancock, because if we can help build participants' savvy and confidence, we are in a much better place to help build a successful retirement savings strategy."

Research shows the impact of these two issues is taking a toll. A national survey from the Federal Reserve reported that forty percent of people can't afford a $400 emergency expense such as a car repair or replacing a broken appliance¹ and John Hancock's most recent Financial Stress Survey showed a quarter of respondents had no emergency savings at all.²

Now, with the click of a button on John Hancock Retirement's participant site - where they may already be in a long-term savings mindset - participants can create an emergency savings account. Once a savings goal is entered, the participant links their checking account and sets up weekly recurring deposits. Participants can track progress toward the savings goal and are able to withdraw funds at any time with no fees.³ This can help participants prepare for unexpected financial needs and may prevent them from tapping into their retirement account.

When it comes to college planning, while more than half of American households are currently saving for college⁴, planning for college remains a top worry among parents.⁵ And fewer than one-third of parents say they have the knowledge needed to guide their children through the application and decision-making process.⁶

The Education Planning Center⁷, also available on the participant site, allows participants to estimate the costs of higher education and help define funding gaps in current savings strategies. This comprehensive portal offers resources to help with college selection, scholarships and financial aid, navigation of the college application process and more. In the complimentary Education Planning Center, participants can:

• Get expert step-by-step guidance based on the prospective student's age
• Search for schools that best fit a student's academic profile, and compare school details like admissions and tuition costs
• Prep for standardized tests
• Find scholarships

"Everyone's journey to retirement readiness is different," said Sosseh Malkhassian, head of participant experience, John Hancock Retirement. "By offering resources that are easy to access and use, we're making it easier for our participants to make well-informed decisions, manage multiple priorities and take action in their financial lives. And that sets them up to build and meet long-term retirement readiness goals."

About John Hancock and Manulife
John Hancock is a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading international financial services group that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. We operate primarily as John Hancock in the United States, and Manulife globally, including Canada, Asia and Europe. We provide financial advice, insurance and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. Assets under management and administration by Manulife and its subsidiaries were CAD$1.2 trillion (US$0.9 trillion) as of December 31, 2019. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as MFC on the TSX, NYSE, and PSE, and under 945 on the SEHK. Manulife can be found at manulife.com.

One of the largest life insurers in the United States, John Hancock supports more than 10 million Americans with a broad range of financial products, including life insurance, annuities, investments, 401(k) plans, and college savings plans. Additional information about John Hancock may be found at johnhancock.com.

About John Hancock Retirement
As of December 31, 2019, John Hancock serviced over 50,000 retirement plans with over 2.8 million participants* and over $181 billion in AUMA.
*Participant Counts reflect all active participants with a balance. 

About Manulife Investment Management
Manulife Investment Management is the global wealth and asset management segment of Manulife Financial Corporation. We draw on more than 150 years of financial stewardship to partner with clients across our institutional, retail, and retirement businesses globally. Our specialist approach to money management includes the highly differentiated strategies of our fixed-income, specialized equity, multi-asset solutions, and private markets teams—along with access to specialized, unaffiliated asset managers from around the world through our multimanager model. Our personalized, data-driven approach to retirement is focused on delivering financial wellness in retirement plans of all sizes to help plan participants and members retire with dignity.

Headquartered in Toronto, we operate as Manulife Investment Management throughout the world, with the exception of the United States, where the retail and retirement businesses operate as John Hancock Investment Management and John Hancock, respectively; and in Asia and Canada, where the retirement business operates as Manulife. Manulife Investment Management had CAD$879 billion (US$677 billion) in assets under management and administration.^* Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit our website at manulifeinvestmentmgt.com.

* MFC financials. Global Wealth and Asset Management AUMA as of December 31, 2019, was CAD$879 billion and includes CAD$198 billion of assets managed on behalf of other segments and CAD$145 billion of assets under administration.

John Hancock Distributors LLC Member FINRA, SIPC 200 Berkeley Street Boston, MA 02116 800-225-6020
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John Hancock Retirement Plan Services, LLC• 200 Berkeley Street • Boston, MA 02116

NOT FDIC INSURED. MAY LOSE VALUE. NOT BANK GUARANTEED.

© 2020 John Hancock. All rights reserved.

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¹ Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2018," Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, May 2019.
² John Hancock sixth annual Financial Stress Survey conducted by Greenwald & Associates, June 2019. 
³There is no advisory fee for an emergency fund goal saved in a cash account. Customers also have the option to invest their emergency fund goal into a managed investment account, but an advisory fee is applicable.
^{4 "}How America Saves for College," Sallie Mae, 2018.
⁵ "How America Saves for College," Sallie Mae, 2018.
⁶ "American Dream versus American Reality: How Parents Navigate and Influence their Kids' Post-High School Education," American Student Assistance, 2018.
⁷John Hancock is not affiliated with The Education Planning Center and neither are responsible for the liabilities of the other.

SOURCE John Hancock Retirement