DALLAS (BP)–GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention began offering free online retirement planning guidance to its retirement participants on Oct. 3.
GuideStone announced in June that it had teamed with Morningstar Associates, LLC, to offer the Morningstar Retirement Manager via GuideStone’s website, www.GuideStone.org, on the Online Services page. The Morningstar service offers personalized retirement strategies and resources to help GuideStone’s 150,000-plus pre-retirement participants make the most of their retirement plan investment options.
In addition to the personalized retirement strategy, GuideStone participants also will have access to Morningstar’s educational articles and interactive tools designed for both the novice and experienced investor.
John R. Jones, chief operating officer of GuideStone Financial Resources, said GuideStone participants have been asking for direction on how to invest for retirement for several years. “With this new tool, we can provide an easy-to-use set of solutions to help our participants make more informed decisions about their retirement planning,” Jones said.
Morningstar Associates is a registered investment adviser and wholly owned subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc., with operations in 16 countries providing data on more than 125,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds and similar vehicles.
The Morningstar Retirement Manager service combines research, education and investment advice and guidance to help retirement plan participants make more informed decisions about their retirement accounts. The services are designed to help participants easily answer the two most common questions about retirement planning: How much should they be saving and what funds should they choose? The Morningstar online retirement tool provides a personalized retirement strategy consisting of recommendations for retirement goals, target savings levels, portfolio construction and the individual investments that are appropriate for the participant’s situation.
“We have looked forward to this launch date for months,” said Bob Henry, head of GuideStone’s church retirement marketing department. “We believe it is a wonderful opportunity for our retirement participants to receive education and advice about their investment decisions using either the easy three-step-option or a more in-depth approach.”
If questions arise, retirement participants can call GuideStone Financial Resources at 1-800-262-0511. Customer relations specialists are available Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Central time.
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