empower-retirement.com Reviews 418

I would give zero stars but the system would pot let me. Empower has been extremely difficult to work with. There is a lack of consistency in the information provided—every call results in different answers, and no one seems to follow a clear process. It is nearly impossible to reach anyone at corporate headquarters or the actual processing center who can resolve issues, leaving customers stuck with call center agents who only take notes and cannot provide real assistance. The delays in releasing funds, combined with poor transparency and limited customer service authority, create unnecessary stress and frustration

You would think if someone was submitting a “Hardship Withdrawal” the request would be fulfilled with some sense of urgency. But no. The follow up is completely unprofessional, the required teams are not on the same page when it comes to processes or status.
The fact that you even have to jump through hoops to access your money adds salt to the wound. After completing missing information, one directly with an employee, I received the an email stating the missing information was incomplete. I had to once again call to speak with an agent who said “oh yea, I see that we’ve got that, let me connect with a specialist)

Then to find out it will take an additional 3 days to be assigned to an agent…. Not processed. Assigned.
Terrible system. Terrible set up. Lack of urgency. Communication amongst teams, and to the user falls short.
Thank goodness I was proactive and am seeking assistance well before the date demands, because I’d be “s*** out of luck”

It takes 40 minutes for someone to answer the phone, you can’t understand them, they will reject your hardship documentation without giving a specific reason so you have to call. The phone hangs up on you even while you’ve been on the phone for half an hour.

Investors should exercise extreme caution regarding Empower’s "My Total Retirement" and "Personal Strategy" services. While the marketing promises sophisticated, personalized wealth management, the operational reality is a rigid, unresponsive system that systematically prioritizes fee extraction over performance.

First, the service exhibits dangerous inflexibility. The algorithms responsible for protecting your capital often operate on rigid, calendar-based schedules—such as quarterly updates or "birthday" triggers—rather than responding dynamically to market volatility. When the market crashes, the system can sit idle for weeks, and manual intervention requests are frequently delayed by bureaucratic latency, locking in avoidable losses.

Second, the proprietary "Smart Weighting" methodology is structurally flawed for modern markets. By arbitrarily betting against the market’s biggest winners (like major tech companies) to enforce an "equal weight" across sectors, the strategy consistently lags behind simple S&P 500 index funds during rallies. You are effectively paying a premium to underperform the benchmark.

Finally, the service functions as a "roach motel" for your assets. The "Direct Indexing" feature fragments your portfolio into hundreds of individual stock slices. This structure makes it nearly impossible to transfer your account to a lower-cost broker without liquidating the entire portfolio, triggering a massive, immediate capital gains tax bill. You are trapped paying exorbitant advisory fees (up to 0.89%) because the cost of leaving is too high.

Verdict: This service is a fee trap that offers lower liquidity and lower returns than a standard index fund. Save your money, avoid the tax lock-in, and manage your own portfolio.

Empower is a criminally negligent organization. I had taken a loan that I paid off early. However, they have withdrawn more than I owe (about $250) which resulted in insufficient fund charge by my bank.

Empower is a criminally run retirement scam . Unfortunately for me Nassau County is part of that scam so my money must stay. They make it entirely impossible to make a withdrawal, they change major allocation policies with zero communication with members . Half a million dollars they have of mine I've never got one piece of communication from them. Phone help is non existent. Their mission statement is what can we not do for you !!!

Straight scam. My wife had a small 401k she was building before leaving her employer, empower took 55% of the amount in admin fees. Absolutely crazy.

I asked to speak with a supervisor when I called around 645p. The US rep her name was Tamika and she would not transfer my call to her supervisor because it.s close to closing time. Spent time requesting a her supervisor which she said no to. I said you’re trying to hang up on me at 7p so you don’t want me to make a complaint against her. Tamika hung up on me without assisting.

The new website is awful! Hard to login, hard to view the data. Broken account links. A serious, serious step back.

I wish I could give less than 1 star! Empower is HORRIBLE! The customer service is terrible, a bunch of misinformed, RUDE people who cried about being talked to like they’re stupid - BUT PROVIDE FALSE INFO AT THE SAME TIME, and they refuse to give me my money! It’s MY money, that I earned from working! They just cancelled my retirement check and DID NOT NOTIFY ME AT ALL. No call, letter, or email. On their form, they say they will send you a check as a rollover and IF not cashed/deposited within 60 days it will be treated as a taxable event. I was fine with that. They then CANCELLED my check and said “we HAVE TO write the check to a RETIREMENT COMPANY”. I explained I do not HAVE another retirement company, yet. They said they WILL not release the funds to me, unless I were to OPEN A NEW IRA WITH THEM, and then withdraw it. It makes NO sense, and I don’t understand why I would have to go through all that. Then they said “oh we can change it from a rollover to a distribution to you, but you’d pay 20% in taxes” I AGREED, then they said THEY CANNOT DO THAT EITHER!! So basically they tried to say that my money would eventually go into “unclaimed funds”, even though I AM CLAIMING IT AS WE SPEAK. If I were NOT able to take the money a certain way - that should have been told to me instead of saying my check was processed and mailed - and then not receiving it!!! I will NEVER use Empower ever again!!!

This service is incredibly sketchy. They offer no way to delete linked accounts and the process to delete your master account isn't at all straightforward. There are better, safer options out there. Stay away!

Provided all executor and legal documents regarding the deaths of the original account holder and beneficiary. Followed up weekly as told by a representative. Each follow-up the representative asked questions regarding information on previous documents sent, and even asked me when the deceased individual's passed when they had both death certificates. They then told me it was with the review department as they figure out what to do with an over 100,000 dollar account. Not sure how this company was able to acquire the responsibility to manage millions of dollars.

Empower retirement is the worst ever!!!!! All representatives are rude, they get annoyed when you (as the customer ask questions. They choose not explain things in laymen terms for understanding. One of the reps hung up on me, I called back spoke to another rep who pointed out some information about my paperwork that was not explain to me in the beginning of my process. Empower does not care about us we as the people who are trusting them with our money. I sad that you have to call several times to confirm if the information they give is correct or left out. supervisor is available to speak with according to the representatives. Go Figure!!! Rollover your funds with another retirement company who values you as customer and will provide the best information for your needs and protect your money. "GET OUT NOW WHILE YOU CAN!!!

Their service sucks
They don’t even help getting statements for tax purposes.
Their support toll free is off shore and is with folks that don’t even know the time in the US, don’t have the understanding, customer service principals.
Connection is poor, and if you wait on line they will keep you for 30+ min.
If they call you back, they do from a line that has echo, poor quality, they do not understand plain English.
It takes for ever.
Tried rolling over to Fidelity, opposite experience , I hope is the last time I deal with empower.
Spoke 5 times to fix my address, 3 times to state I was no longer employed , a nightmare. Plus when you get disconnected, you have to start all over again.
Cheap, and sucks

⭐☆☆☆☆ (If negative stars were allowed, I’d max that scale out and ask for an extension.)

Let me tell you — dealing with this company was an *experience.* Not a good one, not a productive one, but definitely one for the history books. They move slower than molasses rolling uphill… during a blizzard… while taking a nap. I’ve had Amazon packages arrive from the moon faster than these people handle a “simple task.”

Their customer service? Oh, honey. I’ve had more empathy from a parking meter. Every time I reached out, it was like I was interrupting their afternoon of doing absolutely nothing. You’d think asking for a basic update was the same as asking for the secret formula to Coca-Cola.

And don’t even get me started on their “timeliness.” By the time they got back to me, I had started a new job, changed hobbies, and possibly entered a new tax bracket. I’m convinced their motto is: *“Why do something today when we can maybe think about it next month?”*

If patience is a virtue, this company will make you a saint. I’ve seen toddlers with more focus and goldfish with better follow-through.

So if you’re in the market for a master class in frustration, confusion, and the fine art of waiting — look no further! Otherwise, save your sanity and go literally anywhere else.

This is by far the worse retirement company out there. As an employee that left his current employer. Poor customer service, long wait times, over charge you. The company puts a $75 fee on top of what the government is already taking from these savings. They did not even calculate my taxes correctly.

Terrible experinece trying to transfer an IRA out this orignization. They were happy to take my 401k transfer, but are not able to do an transfer of the assets in my IRA to Fidelity. The suggestion was to liquidate the account and then mail a check. I requested a wire transfer which cost me an additional $40.

This company is down right pitiful, they make it so hard to withdraw your hard earned money that you worked hard for, you have to show numerous amount of paperwork for your reason of needed your money which I find to be bull sh”t, I don’t know how they are still in business and wouldn’t recommend this trash company at all

It’s one thing and then it’s another, I struggled with them. No stable, I’m always checking on the safety of my funds,why should that be while I can get peace of mind. If customer service had a dating profile, coastfirehq.com would be a total swipe right.

I would give negative stars if I could despite what web searches will tell you. you cannot log in without getting the app on your mobile device. all of the login options loop you through pages demanding that you download their app and if you try to escape the loop, you're just dropped back on their homepage. additionally, you can't call to ask them how to log in because just to be connected to a service agent you have to put in your social security number. I don't need an agent to connect my account. I need an agent to direct me to a simple login page that doesn't require an app.