To understand what financial wellness technology (FinWellTech) is, let’s first get on the same page about what financial wellness is. In textbook terms, financial wellness is defined as having an understanding of your financial situation and taking care of it in such a way that you are prepared for financial changes. It is more than just reading an article about taxes or retirement planning. Financial wellness means understanding your situation, making a plan, and following through on it, so you can handle an unexpected expense, make progress toward personal goals, and live the future you dream about. Financial wellness helps you make those dreams a reality.
In a recent Motley Fool interview, our friend and PwC partner Kent Allison, often referred to as the founder of the financial wellness movement, said, “There's all these different definitions around financial wellbeing and financial wellness. [In this year’s survey,] we actually left it up to the employees to tell us...what they thought financial wellness was...retirement really wasn't even mentioned. It was more about a state of being. It was more like relief from financial stress. [Being] debt-free. Financial freedom...So we look at it as...getting somebody to a peaceful state around their finances, where they are comfortable that they're living within their means, they're meeting their goals, and they're thinking about the future comfortably.”
So, if financial wellness and financial wellbeing are states of mind, clearly the path to realizing such enlightenment is different for everyone and requires not only education, but expert advice, personal context, planning, diligence, and consistency. The question then becomes, how can we democratize such a personalized financial planning offering, and bring the value of a private financial planner in your pocket to everyone?
Insert financial wellness technology.
Financial wellness technology (FinWellTech) is the software required to power configurable, personalized, comprehensive financial wellness programs and experiences. It is software that is utilized to guide people to a state of financial wellbeing.
Questis is financial wellness technology. Our software platform is what retirement advisors use to scale their access, efficacy, and ability to influence real behavior change in plan participants. We start with you, the advisor - because we used to be you. Then we layer on the plan participant experience based on your business model, program goals, needs, revenue targets, etc. Then, when your program is built, we offer different pricing models depending on how you do business…but we can get more into that offline.
So, that’s how we approach it. But how does it all work, you might ask? Of course we’d love to set up a personalized consultation to talk through your specific needs, but high level, here’s what happens: During onboarding, all participants take an assessment with questions about their financial health. Their responses to these questions drive the ability to immediately take action in the form of what we call To-Dos. These make short-term progress simple.
Once the work has begun, participants have the ability to aggregate their accounts, which unlocks more advanced functions within the software. The context that comes from this part of the platform is vital in developing a personalized program that really works for someone and has the ability to change their behavior. We all know one size fits all approaches don’t work for exercise, diet, what pants look good, the list goes on…why would it work for financial planning? You already know it doesn’t. People need personalized programs based on their lives, history, and goals, but who has the time or money to do it? Again, insert FinWellTech. That is exactly what we power.
Often, but not always, the next piece of the puzzle is the human element. You, your advisors or mentors are brought into the participant experience via in-portal messaging and/or appointment scheduling. During early communications, plan participants offer even more context about their financial situations and lives, work, and goals. The advisors then have what they need to develop a plan. What follows is a set of goals and associated To-dos, coupled with automated reminders and progress checks. These are sent to both the advisor and the participant to ensure participant progress and advisor awareness.
Of course, the above experience is turnkey, and we preach configurability. To get down to brass tacks and detail out your program, drop us a note.
Most businesses operate in silos with countless apps, logins, quick fixes, and one size fits all recommendations. Technology has the power to personalize experiences and guide people, namely your plan participants, to behavior change.
And that’s exactly what we’re doing at Questis.
We started out as retirement plan advisors looking for a solution that didn’t exist. Well, we built it — and are happy to share the fruits of our tech labor with our former colleagues and current partners. We’re happy to chat any time. Set up a complimentary consultation with our team today.