Empower retirement company?

[old medic]

Just got notified that Prudential is turning its 401K over to this company called Empower. The wife has no choice but to stay, but I'm wondering if I should consider moving mine to Schwab.

 

[iloveyoga]

I have been out of the business for almost nine years now . I don't recognize the name Empower? We used to compete against Prudential all the time for 401(k) business.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

Empower is a real company.

https://www.empower.com/about

They own the name on the Denver Broncos football stadium. Not that this means they are a good company. They also own Personal Capital, which is a common financial planning website. I guess I would see what they offer and if you're not happy with the investments and/or costs they offer, I would look elsewhere. But if their offering is competitive, I don't think they are bad to use, necessarily.

 

[Ready2Go]

Empower is a conglomeration of Great West, FasCore and maybe another one or two companies. They are based in Denver and are a big players in the mid-to-large institutional retirement space. They are a quality provider. Before I retired, we competed against them very often. We used to beat them but they were consistently beating us when I left.

 

[MRG]

They've picked up several other providers such as Mass Mutual. Been around forever and I think they're big in the retirement space.

 

[Stashu]

My 401k, which is still at my employer I retired from a year ago, was with MassMutual for many years until being acquired by Empower in early 2021. I am very pleased with the customer service I receive from Empower. I can’t say how it compares to the old MassMutual, since I never did anything but contribute and make my own investment decisions before they were acquired by Empower. Personal Capital, which I believe quite a few people on this forum use (at least the free part), is also part of Empower. I recently requested a small distribution using the rule of 55, and Empower made it very convenient to do.

 

[old medic]

I did some searching, seen they were a branch of the Canadian company Great West, and have been buying up retirement programs left and right the last few years. Indeed reviews by employees average around 3.5, and seen costs as high as 0.86%... OUCH..
It looks like the deal started last july and I'm just now hearing about it...

 

[USGrant1962]

My 401(k) is with Empower and they seem quite good. Their index funds are Black Rock and State Street institutional funds with ERs that meet or beat Vanguard with S&P500 Index at 0.03% ER. No real problems with their customer service. I'm in their International Index (0.07% ER), Small/Mid-cap Index (0.04%), and TIPS index funds (0.06%). My US total stock market and other bond indexes are with Vanguard. I like the institutional diversity of keeping both Empower and Vanguard.

As I understand it, employers pick the suite of funds offered by your 401(k), so you'll need to see what's available. Mine also allows Rule of 55 and Roth conversions. I suggest you see what your specific plan looks like before deciding to move. See your Summary Plan Description and Investment Lineup.

 

[skyking1]

Wife's plan is with Empower. So far they have provided good customer service.

 

[Romer]

My 401K has been with them for several years and have had no issues. Like stated, they are the merger of several institutions that gave been around for quite a while

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

My 457 was with them, and my experience was very similar to USGrant's.

 

[Lstansbury]

My previous employer's Deferred Comp is with them and I've had no issues at all. Really enjoy Personal Capital too, but I only use the free version. They tried to sell me personal advisory services, but the %age was too high, and they had to take over too many of my funds, not letting me touch them. (I jumped out of my chair when I heard that part).

 

[old medic]

Thanks for the replies, The DW is still working and adding to her 401K, Mine is now in limbo for the next few years.

 

[mrfeh]

My spouse's 401K is through Empower, although I think it was originally w/ Mass Mutual which was then acquired by Empower.

I hate their web site, but I don't know if it's Empower's web site or a re-branded Mass Mutual site.

 

[iloveyoga]

I certainly recognize Great West and Mass Mutual!

 

[jazz4cash]

Wow. Mass Mutual acquired Blueprint Income in Feb ‘21. Mass Mutual was acquired by Empower in Jan ‘21. That’s very close to the time I bought my first MYGA through Blueprint. I am very satisfied with Blueprint. I see no other company branding on their website. The sentiment of folks that actually have experience with Empower seems to be positive.

 

[iloveyoga]

I have not kept up with retirement industry stuff like this so it is interesting to read about the retirement plan providers.

 

[skyking1]

I will have to look into DW's plan and see if I can do roth conversions right there. That would greatly simplify things.

 

[old medic]

I will have to look into DW's plan and see if I can do roth conversions right there. That would greatly simplify things.

That is part of the reason I was thinking about moving my 401K to Schwab, as our Roths are there.

 

[Navigator]

There is often a hidden fee companies pay to financial firms for them setting up and managing retirement plans. This shows up as slightly lower returns on your account. When I was working, my employer couldn’t tell me what that was, so I had to call Fidelity directly to find out. If your plan does have these fees, it is definitely worth moving your account to an iRA.

 

[cnocmmz]

Just got notified that Prudential is turning its 401K over to this company called Empower. The wife has no choice but to stay, but I'm wondering if I should consider moving mine to Schwab.

Yes, my wife as well. She retired from the NEXCOM system and she is wondering how it will be. Doing a little research, Empower has a reputation so, I guess we will see?

 

[stephenson]

While I know nothing about Empower, I cannot imagine they can match Fidelity in customer service, offerings and website functionality.

 

[craigbro63]

My company switched to Empower not long before I retired 2+ years ago. They are administrating the policies set by each company so typically look up my specific information for each call/question. No big deal, but, every time I call the first person is always the "sales guy", then you get passed to a more knowledgeable person.

 

[cat4ever]

It might be a good idea to save all your transaction records from your current 401K. I got switched from Boeing/State Street to Fidelity this year. Boeing wiped all my records, including all transactions from 2021, and Fidelity doesn't have them either. I did receive 1099-Rs from Boeing, but they seem off to me and with no transaction records I have no way of double checking them, so I'm stuck with just entering the 1099-R data into Turbo Tax.

 

[target2019]

I kept the megacorp 401(k) with Empowerment until it no longer worked for me. I rolled over to Schwab. I was ready to consolidate two accounts, and had been procrastinating about the decision.

You can probably hang with them longer. Will be interesting what you hear about Roth conversions or other needs.