Welcome to SaveIndiana.us!

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:19:00 -0400

Let’s begin with a dose of reality.

68 percent of Americans could not cover a $5,000 emergency with cash without having to go into debt, according to Bankrate.com.
61 percent of Americans “always or usually” lived paycheck to paycheck in 2009, which was up from 49 percent in 2008 and 43 percent in 2007, reports ACS Lending Tree.
3.9 million properties will receive foreclosure filings in 2010, according to realtytrac.com.
46 percent of American workers haven’t given thought to how much money they’ll need for a comfortable retirement. 24 percent say they’ve postponed their planned retirement date in the last year for money-related issues, reports an April 1, 2010 Chicago Tribune article.

With access to so much financial advice, we shouldn’t be seeing challenges of this magnitude, right?

Therein lies the problem.

65 percent of Americans have never worked with a professional to make a financial plan, and of those who have, only 17 percent of their plans are current. Yet 82 percent of those surveyed with a written financial plan say they benefited. (According to the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards’ 2009 National Consumer Survey on Personal Finance).

Why are so many people insufficiently prepared?

Per the survey, two of the biggest factors are cost and difficulty determining who provides the best financial planning services. Though not a survey option, we know that other major contributors are apathy and the pain of creating and maintaining a financial plan.

So here’s the antidote:

Technology can reduce the barriers of cost and inconvenience, and that is what we are building myJibe to do. myJibe replaces many of the Word docs, paper forms, and Excel spreadsheets that create inefficiency for advisors and pain for clients. myJibe also permits a client and advisor to log in together and engage real-time.

We are banding together with the state’s best advisors, planners, banks, and credit unions to engage more Hoosiers and increase our collective impact. myJibe will bring the technology. We want first-class financial professionals who share the vision of what we can do together, who can help us grow this, and to whom we can refer consumers interested in financial services.

Do you have a suggestion for an advisor, planner, bank, or credit union we should be considering? Refer them above.