Five Questions With: Ken Hevert

KEN HEVERT is a senior vice president of retirement, retirement income, and college with Fidelity Investments. / COURTESY FIDELITY INVESTMENTS
KEN HEVERT is a senior vice president of retirement, retirement income, and college with Fidelity Investments. / COURTESY FIDELITY INVESTMENTS

Ken Hevert is a senior vice president of retirement, retirement income, and college with Fidelity Investments. Hevert, based in Smithfield, talks with Providence Business News about the company’s annual Financial Resolutions Study and why setting financial goals each year can help individuals’ financial well-being.
PBN: Can you tell our readers a little bit about the New Year Financial Resolution Study and why Fidelity Investments does it each year?
HEVERT:
The Fidelity Investments New Year’s Financial Resolutions Study was designed to explore attitudes toward making financial resolutions. This study helps us accomplish our mission of inspiring better futures and delivering better outcomes to our customers. The results offer insight into our customers’ needs and concerns for the upcoming year, as well as how they’ve evolved from past years. It also has served a great way to raise awareness of the importance of revisiting one’s financial situation at year-end.
PBN: What are some of the highlights from this year’s study?
HEVERT:
We are incredibly encouraged that many Americans are feeling confident about their finances, with an impressive 70 percent saying they will be better off financially in 2017. In addition, people are feeling good about the past year, with 45 percent saying they are in a better financial situation this year, which is the highest level since the inception of the study and significantly better than the previous year (39 percent).
PBN: About 36 percent of respondents said they plan to make a financial resolution in 2017. Is there any evidence to suggest setting such goals helps people better manage money?
HEVERT:
Yes – the study found that 66 percent of those who were successful in following through with their resolutions said they were now in a better financial situation. There is also evidence that shows setting these goals actually makes people feel better about their finances, which helps them stay engaged and make progress toward their goals. The start of a new year is the perfect time to hit pause and review your financial plan. Even if you don’t like making specific New Year’s resolutions, you can still resolve to do better in 2017.
PBN: New Year resolutions for a lot of people are difficult to abide by, how does Fidelity suggest people stick to financial goals?
HEVERT:
Forty percent of those surveyed actually feel it’s easier to stick with financial resolutions compared to other popular resolutions, such as exercising more, stopping smoking, or finding a new job. However, 39 percent say it’s harder: this number is an increase over 2015 (35 percent). The truth is, making a commitment to financial fitness doesn’t necessarily require a daily routine or activity. Better still, there are many features investors can take advantage of to help make saving easier and automatic. For instance, if you commit to save 1 percent more for retirement, you can simply increase your contribution rate at work or to an IRA using auto-features so that the contributions are made automatically each month. You can also commit to an annual financial review with an adviser, or commit to reducing credit card debt by increasing the monthly payments and paying the debt down faster. These payments can be automated using online bill-pay, for example. Taking advantage of technology is a great way for people to stick to their financial commitments.
PBN: Unexpected expenses topped the list of concerns people have for the New Year, but 62 percent of respondents said the economy was also a concern, representing a 9-percentage point increase compared with last year. Why do you think more people are concerned about the economy this year than last?
HEVERT:
It is not uncommon for people to cite the economy as a top concern as related to their personal finances. For those worried about the economy, 42 percent said they were most concerned about global or political instability, while 29 percent pointed to its overall strength.

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