Albert Lea business intellicents has introduced intellicents university as part of its five-step financial wellness program, according to a press release.

“Many Americans are not ready for retirement,” said Brad Arends, CEO and co-founder of intellicents. “Yet, it is difficult to expect dramatic behavior change regarding savings rates for ‘tomorrow’s money’ when they are not financially fit in regard to ‘today’s money.’ The wealth management industry is addressing these issues for business owners, upper management, and the affluent  often referred to as the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans. But this same industry acknowledges that they have little time or interest in providing this service for the 99 percent that they openly refer to as the underserved. That is the passion of us here at intellicents, and we invite other like-minded advisors and employers to join us in this crusade to implement a workplace financial wellness program that really works for everybody.”

“Intellicents university provides financial wellness curriculum for employers, their employees and retirees,” said Grant Arends, president of retirement plan services and co-founder of intellicents. “Users pick their path, review the syllabus outlining the subjects in their chosen course of study and can then contact our advisors or certified financial planners to not only learn about the topic, but actually get planning and advice if desired. Course descriptions are in either video or written form, and include subjects such as fiduciary duty, the hidden cost of delayed retirements, taking a defined contribution, business succession planning for employers, retirement planning, choosing the right health insurance plan, maximizing your HSA, budgeting and credit management, claiming Social Security and buying or leasing a car for individuals.

“We currently are offering 17 different topics for employers, 23 for the American worker, and 10 for retirees.  We anticipate adding more in the future.”

“The typical American gets the vast majority of their financial needs taken care of at work,” Brad Arends said.  “Think about the complexity of the decisions we are asking them to make every year at benefits enrollment time. The decision that they make on one benefit option can impact the decisions they have to make on other benefit options; and these are no longer just benefit questions, but financial planning issues. Consequently, we already have several clients that have made financial planning an employee benefit. It’s time we start overserving the underserved.”