Press Release

Principal Expands Culturally Relevant Program to Improve Retirement Savings Among Hispanic Workers

Issued by Principal Financial Group

Oct. 23, 2019

Enhanced capabilities encourage participants to take action and save

DES MOINES, Iowa, October 23, 2019 -- Building on the success of its Hispanic-focused retirement savings program, Principal Financial Group® announces a new culturally relevant participant onboarding experience and enhanced digital capabilities. For employers with large Hispanic workforces, this specialized approach helps participants gain understanding and confidence as they begin saving in a retirement plan.

“Having financial confidence transcends language barriers. But we believe the process to becoming financially confident relies on resources that take culture and language preferences into account to provide relevant and meaningful education,” said Jerry Patterson, senior vice president, retirement and income solutions at Principal®. “With a new onboarding platform and digital enhancements, people can feel more comfortable about starting to save and receive ongoing encouragement through clear action steps.”

Principal® Real Start, a new digital and mobile participant onboarding platform introduced earlier this year, has been a game-changer in terms of driving positive retirement savings outcomes. This experience has now been transcreated into Spanish to help Hispanic workers starting to save. Instead of a simple English-Spanish translation, Principal uses “transcreation” to incorporate culturally relevant meaning and tone. With nearly 20% of U.S. residents identifying as Hispanic / Latino, there’s a deeper need to gain an understanding of the cultural concepts of this population /1/.

“After years of working and reworking our digital and mobile onboarding experiences, we feel like we have taken a huge leap with Real Start. We have made the process so intuitive, easy, personalized, and interactive, that we are seeing participants save and take advantage of other features available in their plan at rates we have never seen before. Adapting Real Start to meet the unique cultural and language needs of the fastest growing segment of the US population enables us to drive positive retirement outcomes even further,” added Patterson.

Hispanic workers take positive savings action
When Hispanic workers start to participate in a company plan, they tend to embrace the concept of savings. Talking with active participants highlighted the need for more ways to reach Hispanic workers and influence positive savings behaviors.

Filling the retirement savings education gap
Since 2013, Principal has continued to find new ways to offer relevant financial education and experiences for Spanish-speakers. Participants can access a Spanish version of the Principal website, principal.com/es, to learn more about retirement. For those who have specific questions, a dedicated bicultural team takes calls and helps Spanish-speaking participants understand what it means to save for retirement.

In order to create a more holistic Spanish-language participant experience, Principal created a new website tailored to the unique needs of these individuals – Principal® Hola Futuro. It’s full of retirement saving education – from how to access a retirement account with Principal to managing daily finances to basic investing tips.

“By continually evolving the Hispanic customer experience and offering culturally relevant education and resources when and where participants need it, we can start to improve overall retirement readiness,” says Patterson.

About Principal®
Principal helps people and companies around the world build, protect and advance their financial well-being through retirement, insurance and asset management solutions that fit their lives. Our employees are passionate about helping clients of all income and portfolio sizes achieve their goals – offering innovative ideas, investment expertise and real-life solutions to make financial progress possible. To find out more, visit us at principal.com.

Insurance products and plan administrative services provided through Principal Life Insurance Co., a member of the Principal Financial Group®, Des Moines, IA 50392.

/1/ Univision Hispanic Financial Journey Study, June 2017

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