Barron's Honors Enrich for Financial Wellness

iGrad was one of three honorees in the inaugural Barron's Celebrates: Financial Empowerment, after being selected by a team of judges for its contributions to improving the financial health and security of Americans with the Enrich™ financial wellness platform.

 

Excerpt from Barron's article:

Financial wellness has become part of Christine Cromer’s routine. Almost every day, the 46-year-old mother of two runs through some short breathing exercises online, then dives into her personalized financial education program on Enrich Financial Wellness.

The Fuquay-Varina, N.C., resident says Enrich, offered through a package of benefits from her husband Brad’s company, has helped her navigate everything from debt payment strategies to 401(k) allotments. “Yesterday I put more money into our health savings account, and part of that is because of the program,” Cromer says. “I feel like this program is almost like, you know you’re supposed to drink your water every day, but it reminds you to actually drink it.”

Cromer—like many of the two programs’ nearly 2 million users—was sucked in by the program’s personality quiz. Called Your Money Personality, the self-evaluation, which Cromer says was so accurate it almost felt like a diary, is one of the first activities users encounter after completing an introductory assessment. “It put words to my financial personality—like articulates it for me—and I’m like, ‘that’s exactly it!’” she says.

Inspired by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, a test that uses psychological theory to group people into types of personalities that can be used to understand the way they behave and learn, the quiz breaks users’ approaches to finance down into five categories, and presents them with a personalized booklet outlining strengths, weaknesses, and action items for their money personality. The company says 93% of users who start the quiz complete it—and many return to explore the website’s Netflix-style personalized course content recommendations, a sign of how helpful people find it.

iGrad was recognized in a virtual event featuring entrepreneur Mark Cuban, former MLB outfielder Curtis Granderson, TODAY Show host Al Roker and Hall of Fame golfer Annika Sörenstam.

Barron’s specifically looked for organizations that addressed critically important financial needs, especially those exacerbated by COVID-19 and impacting people among historically disadvantaged and low-income groups. The pandemic has increased existing financial inequalities and, according to Barron’s, could shape the post-COVID economy.

Organizations were evaluated based on their purpose, scalability and effectiveness, first by an internal panel of judges, and then by an independent panel that included Ralph de la Vega, founder and chairman of De La Vega Group; Jimmy Chen, founder and CEO of Propel; Dr. Lisette Garcia, senior vice president and COO of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, and Lindsay Kaplan, co-founder of Chief.

 "The organizations honored by Barron's Celebrates are having a meaningful impact in addressing financial literacy, and financial health and security in the U.S.,” said Dave Pettit, managing editor of Barron's Group. “Tackling these issues has become all the more important because of the economic hardships created by the Covid-19 crisis. For 2021, Barron's Celebrates will focus on organizations helping to address educational inclusion and the learning gap, another problem exacerbated by the pandemic."

Enrich is used by more than 20,000 employers and more than 300 financial institutions, including Virgin Pulse, Mutual of Omaha and Franklin Templeton, to provide behavior-changing financial literacy education, tools and resources to employees, customers and members

Barron’s lauded iGrad’s award-winning Your Money Personality™ assessment, which incorporates a personality test that is similar to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) by assessing financial behaviors across a range of categories, including outlook, emotions, focus, influence and bonus. It helps users understand each component of their money personality, including dominant traits, strengths and challenges—an understanding that is essential to making long-term changes.