AARP targets Spanish speakers with retirement calculator
Posted by Elena del Valle on August 1, 2011
AARP Retirement Calculator in Spanish – click to enlarge
Photo: AARP.org
In October 2010, the American Association of Retired Persons, known more commonly as AARP, launched a retirement calculator as a retirement planning tool for its members. To date about one million people have made use of the online calculator. There are one million Hispanic AARP members among the organization’s 37 million members. Since older Hispanics are among the fastest growing segments of older people nationally it makes sense to target them.
Some believe reaching out to them in Spanish is a good way to do so. Earlier this month, AARP announced the launch of an online Spanish-language version of the original retirement calculator targeting some of the nine million (according to Diversitycentral.com) older Hispanics at aarp.org/calculadorajubilacion.
Rocky Egusquiza, vice president, Multicultural Markets, AARP
“With the launch last year of our bilingual Web site, Hispanics and Latinos 50+ have grown to expect high-quality content and trusted information from AARP,” said Rocky Egusquiza, vice president, Multicultural Markets, AARP. “This calculator continues to build on that promise and gives our growing Hispanic audience another tool to plan for their retirement security for themselves and for their families.”
According to AARP promotional materials, “Research has shown that using a tool like a retirement calculator can help people focus on the steps many need to take to get their financial lives in order.” The idea the organization’s staff have in mind is for users to rely on the AARP Retirement Calculator to evaluate their situation and figure out how to reach their retirement goals.
Andres Castillo, senior advisor for Education and Outreach, AARP
“For many, the first step to a secure financial future includes assessing when they can retire and what is needed to do so,” said Andres Castillo, senior advisor for Education and Outreach, AARP. “Whether an individual is starting at square one or needs to re-evaluate their original plans, the AARP Retirement Calculator is a tool that can help them determine where they stand and what they need to do next.”
The new calculator features a narrative, step-by-step design that AARP marketers expect will find the same popularity as the English language calculator has had to date. “We would hope, percentage-wise, that usage would mirror the English-language calculator,” said an AARP spokesperson.
At the end of the process users will be guided to additional AARP tools and resources about Social Security, financial planning and other aspects of retirement. The organization for retirees relied on its findings from a January 2010 survey by AARP, in collaboration with the National Hispana Leadership Institute and impreMedia to launch the AARP Spanish language Retirement Calculator. The survey was to a nationally representative general sample of 1,002 adults ages 45 and older and a targeted sample of 400 Hispanics ages 45 and older.
AARP, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization targeting people fifty years of age and older for membership, produces AARP The Magazine with a circulation of 35.1 million. It also publishes AARP Viva, a bilingual U.S. publication targeting older Hispanics.
