Curtis D. Sharp
Officer for Denominational and Public Relations
214-720-2127
Curt.Sharp@GuideStone.orgOnline Investment Advisory Tool Now Available to GuideStone Retirement Participants
October 4, 2005
DALLAS – GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention began offering its free online retirement planning advice and guidance services to its retirement participants on Oct. 3.
GuideStone announced in June 2005 that it had teamed with Morningstar Associates, LLC, to offer this new service. The Morningstar® Retirement ManagerSM tool offers personalized retirement strategies and resources to help the more than 150,000 pre-retirement participants make the most of their retirement plan investment options. Access to this sophisticated tool is through GuideStone’s Web site, www.GuideStone.org, on the Online Services page.
In addition to the personalized retirement strategy, GuideStone participants will also have access to Morningstar’s educational articles and interactive tools designed for both the novice and experienced investor.
“We are pleased to provide this new benefit,” said John R. Jones, chief operating officer of GuideStone Financial Resources. “For several years our participants have been asking for direction on how to invest for retirement. 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.”
Morningstar Associates, a registered investment advisor and wholly owned subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc., offers investment and advice solutions through its Morningstar® Retirement ManagerSM service. The tool 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?
“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.”
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. The guidance service also offers a personalized retirement strategy but with a proposal for how to choose the proper mix of investments from available investment categories.
If questions arise, retirement participants can call GuideStone Financial Resources at 1-8888-98-GUIDE (1-888-984-8433). Customer relations specialists are available Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., CST.