Member Advocate - Questions for Pam Moret, executive vice president, Strategic Planning, Marketing and Products at Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

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Pam Moret

EDUCATION: BA, University of North Dakota—Grand Forks; juris doctor degree, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.

VOLUNTEERING/OUTREACH: Serves on the board of Minnesota Public Radio and is a member of the Minnesota Women’s Economic Roundtable.

Q: How would you describe your role with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans?
A: I am one of many people within the organization who has the passion for being a member advocate. Every day, I am responsible for ensuring that our products are as good as they can be, our marketing programs focus on areas important to our members, our communications to the community are effective and our strategies enable our members to get the most out of this organization. To put it simply, my main responsibility is to ensure this is a fantastic organization for members.

Q: Everyone is talking about getting ready for retirement. With so many options, what does Thrivent Financial have to offer that’s different?
A: As a not-for-profit membership organization, our whole approach to our members is different than other financial services companies. There’s a genuineness and authenticity as we try to put ourselves on the same side of the table as our members. It’s not just about the numbers and what financial steps they should take. It’s about finding out what’s important to our member families in retirement in terms of their faith, their dreams and the legacy they would like to leave, and then helping them achieve that.

Q: I’ve been hearing about ThriveQ. How is it different from other retirement readiness tools?
A: ThriveQ is a simple, online questionnaire that takes about 10 minutes to complete and gives concrete, personalized retirement recommendations. It will help you assess your overall readiness for retirement, not just kick out a dollar amount like other financial calculators. Plus, ThriveQ is easy. Anyone can fill out the questionnaire, whether you’re 20 or 75, know a lot or a little, saved a lot or are just starting. ThriveQ meets you right where you are.

Q: What key thing should I avoid as I think about retirement?
A: Procrastination—it’s the biggest single enemy. Some people think that preparing for retirement is too hard or the task is too big. Never underestimate the enormous impact little steps, taken now, can have. It can be the difference between a reasonable retirement and a disaster.

Q: Are there any pitfalls I should watch out for as I prepare for retirement?
A: Avoid assuming that your situation is the same as someone else’s. For example, a friend may have benefits through an employer that provide for many things, including health care. Don’t make the assumption that you do, too.

Q: How will my retirement differ from my parents’ or grandparents’ retirement?
A: Given how much longer people are living today, the odds are you’ll have a longer time in retirement. It’s exciting in some ways, but it also changes the way you think about paying for the type of retirement you want.  Also, there is more uncertainty about whether we can rely on any type of financial “safety net” in retirement. Whereas our parents may have been able to rely on Social Security, retiree health care or defined benefit plans, that isn’t necessarily true anymore. Most of us will have to count on ourselves.

Q: So, how does this impact preparing for retirement?
A: We can no longer harbor the illusion that someone else will pay our health care premiums or that our income needs will be covered by a regular pension. We need to accept personal responsibility and start being realistic about our own retirement preparations. For those who haven’t started to save, who haven’t created a financial program or even thought about what they want in retirement, it’s hard to know what you need to do. It’s time to get realistic and get started.

Q: How has Thrivent Financial for Lutherans responded to the changing needs of preparing for retirement?
A: When we were founded in 1902, the premature death of the breadwinner was one of a family’s biggest challenges. Today, because of longevity and other social factors, one of the biggest challenges is preparing for a successful retirement. Thrivent Financial always has and will continue to offer the expertise and tools to help people with their protection needs, yet today we go much further by helping them position themselves for retirement. We are always evaluating, improving and expanding our products. For example, the addition of asset allocation funds and other changes have been well-received. One of our newest tools is ThriveQ, www.thriveq.com, an online retirement readiness survey. And with a strong financial foundation—$70.6 billion in total assets under management as of Dec. 31, 2006—we are ready to help our members face their challenges.   

Q: What am I going to get out of your new tool ThriveQ?
A: You are going to get a glimpse of your own personal readiness for retirement. This is not a cookie cutter program. It’s customized. Have you thought about what you want to do in retirement? Have you and your spouse prepared for what will be needed in retirement? Have you looked at health issues? There’s a lot more to retirement than a big savings account or investment portfolio. It’s about health care, family relationships, legacy and protection. That’s where ThriveQ steps up in a way that retirement calculators really don’t.

Q: Why is it important for me to revisit ThriveQ periodically?
A: It’s important to revisit because things will change for almost everybody—sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. Inflation heats up and the amount saved doesn’t look as good. Get promoted and you have ability to save more. Experience a health issue you were not expecting and the world looks different. Good and bad things happen to people all the time. So, it stands to reason that preparing for and being in retirement are dynamic processes. You should revisit your financial program on a regular basis. That’s hard for people to remember, but the world doesn’t stand still, and our lives don’t stand still.

Q: What does ThriveQ offer me if I’m already in good shape for retirement?
A: If you’re already in good shape—and people can discover through ThriveQ if they are already on the right path—then this tool offers a nice assessment and peace of mind that you might not otherwise have. If we’re getting ready to run a race, there’s always a part of us that wonders, “Did I prepare enough? Did I do enough training?” It’s the same thing here—ThriveQ can help confirm that.

Q: Retirement seems so far away. When is the best time to begin preparing? Is it ever too late to get started? Can you over-prepare?
A: The best time to start is right now. It doesn’t matter if you are 20 or 50. Of course, the younger you are the more time works to your advantage. Even relatively modest steps can have a big impact down the road. But if you’re 50, every day that goes by makes a difference. Literally every moment you can start getting prepared can work to your advantage.

It could be possible to over-prepare, but the number of people that are over-preparing is dwarfed by those who are under-preparing. Most of us always can take steps to improve our situation. Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security.

Q: If you had to pick just three things someone could do to get ready for retirement, what would they be?
A: First, think about what you want your retirement to look like. If I want to travel internationally eight times a year, my program will look different from someone who wants to start a new business. The amount I need to save may be the same, but the steps to get where I want to go may look different.

Second, create a game plan. Whether it’s for a vacation or career development, you need to know where you want to go before you can get there.

Finally, start working the plan. Step back and assess what you need to do, and sit down with someone who can help you do that. Plans can go awry when we don’t take the necessary steps. If I’m going to run a race, sitting in my chair and reading an article isn’t enough. I have to actually do the preparation.

If you can dream a little, create a game plan and start working that game plan, the chances of you having the retirement you want has increased tremendously

Q: What new products or product enhancements, besides retirement products, has Thrivent Financial introduced recently? What’s on the horizon?
A: One thing we have learned in our retirement research is that many of our members and Lutherans are feeling overwhelmed by the complexity of the financial world. So we’ve been developing ways to help you simplify. In the past two years we’ve introduced asset allocation funds that do just that. They are simple and easy-to-undersand that they don’t require you to become an investment expert to understand. We also have created an innovative fee-based tool called the Thrivent Retirement Income Optimizer to help manage your income in retirement, regularly calculating the amount you can safely withdraw to make your savings last throughout retirement. No other firm has a product quite like it. Other products are on the drawing board as well.

Over the last four years, one of the big investments Thrivent Financial has made is in equipping our financial representatives to give broader-based advice. The world is a complicated place and people are worried about lots of things—their kids’ education, buying their first house, insurance protection and retirement. We’ve equipped them with the tools and education to give the comprehensive advice that can help you make sure your financial picture lives up to your dreams.