Podcasts about great west financial

“If you don’t like where you are, MOVE. You are not a tree.” --Jim Rohn  Too many of us get stuck in jobs where we feel comfortable. We’re afraid to walk away from the security of a regular paycheck and try something new. But if you’re not happy or your current situation isn’t getting you closer to your long-term goals, it’s time to take action. I’ve quit my job TWICE, so I speak from experience when I tell you that it’s totally worth it. On this episode of Queer Money, I’m sharing what inspired me to quit a good job at Charles Schwab and how my situation improved when I took on a new role at Great West Financial. I discuss the fears I had to overcome in making the transition, describing just how nervous I was to walk away from decent money and a position I liked. I go on to explain why I quit my job at Great West to become a full-time entrepreneur, addressing the uncertainty John and I faced and what we did to prepare. Listen in to understand how my life has changed for the better since I quit my job (twice!) and learn how to overcome your fears and take steps to OWN your tomorrow!

Wars have been started over words, and retirement outcomes for employees can also be impacted by words.  My guest today, Steve Jenks, a Senior Vice President and the Chief Marketing Officer at Empower shares his over 20 years of experience on how word choice can make a big difference to someone’s ability to retire.  Key words you find commonly in retirement plan communications like match, assets, participants, deferral percentage don’t have the meaning or impact you think it should have with your employees.  We also hit on the differences in impact of illustrations vs. words, the importance of keeping calls to action simple, how automatic plan features have changed communications, measuring results, social media strategies and much more.  Also, he had a surprising conclusion on how employees like to receive information about their retirement plans and their desire for in person meetings, don’t miss that.   Steve also references a few white papers from studies he and his team have conducted at Empower.  You can find links to those along with his answer to a bonus question, the transcript from the episode and much more at www.401kfridays.com/words.   Guest Bio Steve Jenks is Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Empower Retirement and Great-West Financial®. ​Steve has 28 years of marketing, product and business leadership experience. He joined Empower and Great-West in 2014. Previously, Steve served as Head of Defined Contribution Product and Marketing for Putnam Investments, where he helped shape and execute growth strategies for the organization’s defined contribution, investment-only and rollover businesses. Steve began his investment industry career in 1990 with Fifth Third Bank. From there, he held leadership roles in marketing, product, finance and relationship management for Fidelity Investments from 1992 to 2009. Steve also co-founded Acceleration Retirement, a marketing analytics and outsourcing firm, and Stable Two Financial, a registered investment advisory company. He served as CEO of both companies. Steve holds a bachelor’s degree with distinction in business analysis from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. He is a registered representative of GWFS Equities, Inc. and maintains FINRA Series 6, 26 and 63 securities registrations. Steve is currently on the boards of the American Red Cross, Mile High Chapter; Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado; and Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA) Colorado. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 150 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

“Strategy is a fancy word for making informed choices to meet your business objectives.” Nag-Bushan Odekar, vice president and head of marketing/individual markets for Great-West Financial, is a marketing executive with superior analytical/problem-solving skills, creativity, strategic agility, and entrepreneurial drive. He began his financial services career at Fidelity Investments in 1999. Nag also has prior experience as the co-founder and CMO at ForeverCar.com, an online retailer that enables consumers to purchase and finance automobile warranties. Prior to ForeverCar, Nag was vice president of consumer marketing at Aviva (now Athene), a leader in indexed life and annuities, where he led the company’s innovation pipeline and brand strategy.   Listen And Learn:  How connecting to a brand means offering a solution. Why statistics might be interesting, but they don’t necessarily mean that they will change buyer behavior. How to know the difference between objectives, strategies, planning, and tactics. How to create your brand’s narrative. The importance of creating emotional connections.   TO LEARN MORE ABOUT GREAT-WEST FINANCIAL CLICK HERE. TO FIND NAG ODEKAR ON LINKEDIN, CLICK HERE. 

Do the largest 0.1% of workplace retirement plans in the country or the “Mega Plans” do things the same as the other 99.9% of plans? As you will hear from my guest, Charlie Nelson, CEO of Retirement & Employee Benefits of VOYA Financial, sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. I had a few technical issues and distractions on my end to deal with right before we got started but once we got going this is a fast paced conversation where we hit on some topics things you might expect us to talk about when it comes to what mega retirement plans trends, but we also delve into on a few important topics you might not be thinking about like helping employees figure out what the next best financial decision for them is, whether the prevalence of 401(k) lawsuits in large plans influence their decision making and how some trends in the large market are actually influenced by the small market.   Guest Bio Charles Nelson is chief executive officer of Retirement and Employee Benefits for Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), which helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings — to get ready to retire better. In his role, Nelson oversees Tax-Exempt and Corporate Markets and Retail Wealth Management, which comprise the company’s workplace and individual retirement businesses, including 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plans, as well as its Employee Benefits business. Prior to joining the company, Nelson served as president of Retirement Services for Great-West Financial through September 2014 and most recently led the legacy Great-West retirement business of Empower Retirement, a business unit of Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company. Nelson has more than 30 years of leadership experience in the retirement and employee benefits industry. He was named the second most influential player in the 401(k) market, according to the 401(k) Wire’s 2012 Most Influential ranking list. During his career, Nelson has managed all aspects of defined contribution businesses. He has overseen government, healthcare, nonprofit, 401(k) and FASCore institutional lines of business, while also managing recordkeeping, administration, operations, sales, products, financial results and broker-dealer services. Nelson began his career at Great-West in the employee benefits business marketing retirement plans, healthcare, stop loss and various benefit offerings. Nelson is a graduate of Whitman College with a degree in chemistry and economics, and he was a member of the Whitman College Board of Overseers from 2008 to 2017. Nelson served as the past president of the board of directors for The SPARK Institute, a trade institute that represents the entire spectrum of defined contribution service providers. He has also been a member of the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA) since 1985. As a member, Nelson has contributed articles for publication, participated on a number of committees, and spoken at numerous regional and national conferences to support and assist the organization’s efforts to further the industry. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over one hundred prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

While I’ve been in the retirement plan business for over twenty years now, one thing I had never found was an easy to read book that an employer or someone new to the business could pick up and finish in one or two sittings and get their arms around where our retirement plan system has been, where it is today and some ideas on where it is headed in the future.  My guest today Bob Reynolds, the President and CEO of both Putnam Investment and Great-West Financial must have shared my frustration and taken it upon himself to fill the void!  During our conversation, we explore mostly his thoughts on how our retirement system is doing today and some recommendations for employers he highlights in his new book, From Here to Security: How Workplace Retirement Plans Can Keep America’s Promise.  As you will hear, while our system is not perfect it is a strong and healthy but needs the ongoing leadership of employers to improve retirement plan coverage within the workforce and to help employees who already have access to retirement plans advance farther down the path towards a successfully replacing their income in retirement.  I won't steal Bob's thunder, but don’t you worry, we leave you with plenty of great ideas and strategies you can bring to your next retirement plan committee meeting.   Guest Bio Robert L. Reynolds is President and Chief Executive Officer of both Putnam Investments and Great-West Financial, which is one of the nation’s top providers of retirement savings products and services through its Empower Retirement division.  Long respected as an industry statesman, Mr. Reynolds has been a driving force of innovation and progress in institutional and retail financial services. Prior to joining Putnam in 2008, Mr. Reynolds was Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of Fidelity Investments.  Mr. Reynolds’ accomplishments have earned multiple industry honors over time. He was named Fund Leader of the Year at the Mutual Fund Industry Awards in 2010 for the strategic improvements he initiated at Putnam. The following year, Putnam, under the leadership of Mr. Reynolds, was honored as Retirement Leader of the Year for initiatives and innovative solutions in the workplace savings arena. Mr. Reynolds has also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from PLANSPONSOR magazine for popularizing employer sponsored 401(k) plans.  Mr. Reynolds currently serves on several not-for-profit boards, including those of West Virginia University Foundation, Concord Museum, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Foundation. He is Chairman of the Boston Advisory Board of the American Ireland Fund, a member of the Massachusetts General Hospital President’s Council, and a member of the Chief Executives Club of Boston and the Council on Competitiveness.  Mr. Reynolds earned a B.S. in Business Administration, Finance, from West Virginia University, where he also received an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration and a Distinguished Alumni Award. In addition, Mr. Reynolds is a recipient of the Boston College President’s Medal of Excellence and the Manhattan College De La Salle Medal. He lives in Concord, Massachusetts.  401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your workplace retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over eighty five prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!  

As lawmakers get closer and closer to tax reform – and have to find a way to pay for it – it is becoming increasingly likely that they will seek to alter the tax incentives supporting workplace retirement savings. Bob Reynolds, president and CEO of Great West Financial and Putnam Investments, sees this as a dangerous and counter-productive change to our national retirement savings policy. Reynolds’ new book, From Here to Security, describes the history and strengths of the 401(k) savings system and makes the case for building on that system by making wise policy decisions to enhance their effectiveness. In this episode, he talks with host Jason Hammersla about workplace coverage challenges, the power of automatic features and other opportunities to strengthen the system.

Robert Reynolds is the author of "From Here to Security:How Workplace Savings Can Keep America's Promise.