Engagement Tool Functionality
In this post we'll continue our discussion of Provisio's web education & engagement tools. In fact, the tools do a bit more than simply telling clients basic information about their super! On the contrary, each web engagement tool enables your clients to explore possible superannuation scenarios and lets them experiment with modifiable, and extremely relevant, factors.
First, let's continue where we last left off: Retirement Adequacy. Today we'll tell the story of Mark, a middle-aged office worker who, until now, hadn't thought too much about his retirement. This prompted him to search online for a financial adviser; after some hits & misses, he found a certified adviser that featured Provisio's Retirement Adequacy web engagement tool on their website.
Here is some key information about Mark's current financial scenario:
Mark is a single man who was born in 1970.
His current annual income from employment is $50,000 -- he also receives $2,000 per year in "Other" income.
His superannuation balance is $16,500 and he is making extra super contributions ($4,800/year before tax and $2,400/year after tax).
Mark would like to retire when he reaches 66 years of age and is targeting a retirement income of at least $50,000 per year.
Are Client Expectations Feasible?
After entering all of this data into the Retirement Adequacy web engagement tool, Mark realises he has some thinking to do... according to the results, his expected retirement income will fall a bit short of expectations:
Mark was hoping to receive a retirement income of at least $50,000 per year. Mark also lives a fairly healthy lifestyle and his ancestors are long-lived... so, fate-willing, he is hoping to exceed his life expectancy by more than just 5 years!
The web engagement Results page summarises Mark's income and super situation as follows:
If the Client Makes No Changes...
At this stage, clients may ask themselves, "If I made no changes to my financial scenario, what would my retirement income have to be in order to avoid shortfalls and enjoy a consistent income for the long-term?"
To discover this, Mark clicks on the green Tell us your retirement objectives link shown above:
After clicking OK, Mark discovers that his current financial scenario would comfortably support a retirement income of $37,500 per year. He could expect this level of income to last well beyond his statistical life expectancy (up to 100 years of age!).
Clients can then ask themselves whether changes to their scenario are required or not. Fortunately, Provisio's web engagement tools make it easy for your clients to discover the possibilities.
Making Changes: The Graphical Interface
Whether it's retirement, a transition to retirement, contributions optimisation or insurance needs analysis, Provisio's web engagement tools enable your potential clients to experiment with their financial plan in order to envision different scenarios. In Retirement Adequacy, for example, clients can modify the following graphical sliders on the Results screen:
Let's re-visit Mark as he experiments with the projection functionality of the Retirement web engagement tool in his attempt to reach a retirement income level of $50,000.
Currently Mark makes a total super contribution of $7,200 ($4,800 before tax + $2,400 after tax). From the Results screen, Mark can easily change his total contributions in order to see what effect they would have on his particular end-case scenario.
Current situation: Total contributions of $7,200/year
Increasing total contributions to $10,900 per year, for example, would enable him to reach his target retirement income of $50,000 per year. This can be done by dragging and dropping the blue contributions slider to a higher amount; the web engagement tool modifies its projection after the mouse button is released.
After increasing total contributions to $10,900/year
A second option for your client's consideration is the modification of their retirement age. Below we have Mark's scenario... he wants to retire at 66 but, if he does so, he can expect a retirement income of $45,000 -- $5,000 short of his original $50,000 per year goal.
Current situation: Retiring at 66 with a projected retirement income of $45,000/year
Your client can use the age slider to determine its effect on projected retirement income. In Mark's example, he increased his retirement age from 66 to 68 with the following result:
Retiring at 68 with a projected income of $51,000/year
By making this change, Mark can see that an increase of 2 additional working years results in $6,000 worth of additional retirement income each year (from $45,000 to $51,000).
Cool Feature: You'll notice that clicking the table icon (upper-right of the graph) enables your client to switch to the Super Account Balance view -- this gives them an opportunity to see how their super balance diminishes as they draw from it over time. Re-clicking the icon toggles back to the After Tax Income view.
If such changes are not to Mark's liking, he can always experiment with a different retirement income goal and then modify other factors, if needed, so that new goals can be achieved.
Modifying Retirement Income Goal
As with the other modifiable fields, changing the retirement income goal is done directly on the After Tax Income graph by sliding the income bar upwards or downwards, as desired.
In Mark's case, he's curious about the shortfall involved if he increases his retirement income goal from $50,000 to $60,000:
Increase of retirement income goal from $50k to $60k/year
By increasing his retirement goal, Mark can see that his income will be short $15,000 per year and that there will be a 7-year shortfall in terms of how long his superannuation fund will last.
Armed with this information, Mark can now further modify his financial scenario so that he can make the lifestyle choices needed to reach his goals. For example, he may want to increase contributions as well as increase his retirement age so that he can enjoy a higher retirement income far beyond his statistical life expectancy.
Provisio's web engagement tools are designed to whet the appetite of your prospective clients. They paint a picture of possibilities by engaging with your clients and giving them the opportunity to craft their own financial solution.
The information presented, however, does not answer the looming question on the mind of most clients: "How can I turn this scenario into a reality?". A simple click on the Contact button is all it takes to start the process.
What happens when a client clicks Send?
You receive an e-mail containing their contact information.
The e-mail includes a link that launches the web-based Provisio Adviser Software.
When launched in your browser, Provisio automatically includes all of the information entered by the client in the web engagement tool.
You can then proceed to discuss the strategy with the client, modify data (if needed) and print out an SoA.
Come check us out! No obligation.
Want to learn more about how Provisio can help you to engage with your clients in a more meaningful way?
- Register now for a personal webinar with our CEO: https://www.provisio.com.au/webinars/
- Ready to try out a 30-day Free Trial of Provisio? http://www.provisio.com.au/signup/
In our next blog post we'll have a look at how you can create highly customised Statements of Account with Provisio, so don't miss it!
When not writing content for Provisio, Brian is either cooking, gardening or playing tablet games with his young daughter. He works remotely from the Philippines.
