Rest unveils personalised digital retirement preparation tool

Australian superannuation fund, Rest, has launched a new online experience designed to help its members prepare for retirement by delivering personalised access to the educational tools, resources and content most relevant to their needs.

The ‘Rest Retire Ready’ initiative allows members to complete a digital questionnaire to connect them with the fund’s arsenal of of advice and super specialist-backed resources like videos, articles, tools, podcasts, webinars, calculators, information and digital advice – all via the one interface.

Rest’s Chief Member Officer, Simone Van Veen, confirmed the experience had been developed in response to feedback from members and with oversight from its advice and super professionals.

“At Rest, our more than 2 million members are at the heart of everything we do and we’re focused on understanding their unique situations, while supporting them to reach the future they see for themselves in retirement,” she said.

“While we are the number-1 fund for young Australians at the start of their working life, we also represent around 350,000 members aged 50 and older. This makes us a top-10 fund for members nearing or in retirement.

“Our members tell us they don’t always know where to start when it comes to preparing for retirement and it should be simpler and more relevant to their individual circumstances.

“When we stand in our members’ shoes, we know planning for the future can feel complex, especially for those balancing cost of living pressures and caring responsibilities.

“Knowing where to start can often seem daunting. Rest Retire Ready is designed to provide that gateway into a deeper retirement conversation.”

Van Veen also indicated that the ‘Rest Retire Ready’ program can be leveraged by members to kickstart their engagement with Rest’s “three-layer advice model”, covering education, information, and online calculators; digital intra-fund advice tools; and personal advice provided by phone-based advisers.

“This new digital journey is all about putting the unique needs of our diverse membership first – offering tailored guidance and connecting members to the right support at the right time,” she said.

“We’ve designed this experience to be flexible, accessible, and based on real member feedback. Through this experience, we are aiming to empower our members to make confident decisions for their future.

“We’re committed to continually improving how we support members approaching or in retirement, with more enhancements and deeper advice integration planned as part of our ongoing strategy.”

While the first phase of the experience is live, the fund also confirmed “ongoing improvements, enhancements to our digital advice channels and expanded services” are expected to roll out over the coming months. The launch of the experience via online channels reflects members’ strong “uptake” of digital advice tools, with 85 per cent of total advice interactions completed digitally according to the fund.