A major motivator for people choosing careers in education is its intangible rewards: The ability to make a difference in students’ lives and contribute to the greater good. But the combined burden of financial stress, heavier workloads due to the current U.S. educator shortage, and conflicting expectations of parents, administrators and lawmakers are driving more professionals out of the job they love.
More than a quarter of educators would be more likely to stay in their job if they felt more financially secure, according to Horace Mann research. We can help districts retain more educators through financial resources and support tailored to the unique needs of educators.
Supporting educators isn’t just part of what we do; it’s who we are. At the heart of our company is a deep appreciation and respect for the impact educators have on our children and our communities. Our business is focused on helping all educators achieve lifelong financial success – because they deserve it.
Financial Education
Horace Mann agents provide complimentary financial wellness workshops for educators at schools and online, including financial literacy, retirement readiness and similar topics. Each state has a different retirement system for educators, and some have more than one. We can speak to the requirements, benefits and idiosyncrasies of the respective systems and help educators understand their potential retirement income.
More than three-quarters of public school teachers (77%) are women, who have historically faced more challenges to financial security, including lower pay compared to their male counterparts, more career interruptions and a longer life expectancy. Our newest program is a workshop specifically tailored to help women prepare for retirement that takes these factors into consideration.
Student Loan Solutions
The U.S. Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program was designed to encourage careers in public service by allowing federal loans of public service workers to be forgiven after 10 years of qualifying payments. However, navigating the process can be confusing at best.
Horace Mann has offered every public school educator in the country a complimentary Student Loan Solutions online account, which includes webinar education, online resources and expert loan coaches to help educators get the loan forgiveness they deserve. In 2022, accounts increased by nearly 40%, and the program identified more than $160 million in PSLF opportunities for educators. The program’s lifetime total of forgiveness opportunities identified is more than $600 million.
Classroom Crowdfunding
Teachers regularly spend hundreds of dollars of their own money to buy classroom supplies for their students. As a national sponsor of the classroom crowdfunding platform DonorsChoose, Horace Mann provides funding for projects teachers have identified as critical to helping their students learn — and helps them keep more of their own money. Since 2011, Horace Mann and its representatives have donated more than $5.6 million to DonorsChoose projects — funding more than 51,000 projects that have helped more than 2.1 million students.
Responsible Business Practices
Horace Mann designs innovative products for the K-12 market to help educators to and through retirement. Horace Mann's retirement products and services are centered around helping others, from offering affordable insurance to helping people prepare for retirement.
- We currently offer a mutual fund platform in Retirement Advantage® that has no surrender charges and does not revenue share with third-party investment firms, such as Vanguard, J.P. Morgan and Lincoln. Retirement Advantage® provides a competitive guaranteed fixed-income product as well.
- In addition to Retirement Advantage®, our current variable annuity products also have no surrender charges and no revenue sharing. These products provide a guaranteed fixed income rate with some of the lowest expenses in the industry.
Horace Mann representatives receive state-of-the-art training, putting customers’ needs first. Our representatives have a myriad of tools available to them to help provide solutions that are appropriate for their customers' situations. Representatives meet continuing education requirements set forth by their state and FINRA.
The number of customer complaints submitted to FINRA stayed the same from 2022 from 2021. In addition, no disciplinary actions or fines have been imposed.
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|
2022
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2021
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2020
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Customer complaints
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35
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35
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58
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|
FINRA disciplinary actions
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0
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0
|
0
|
|
Fines
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$0
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$0
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$0
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Recognizing outstanding educators
We believe it is important to recognize outstanding educators at both a national and local level. We partner with educational organizations and school districts across the country to award outstanding teachers, school employees and administrators.
The Horace Mann Educators Foundation partners with the NEA Foundation to recognize, reward and promote excellence in teaching through the annual Horace Mann Awards for Teaching Excellence. The company sponsors the Women in School Leadership Awards with AASA, The School Superintendents Association, as well as the District 186 Educator of the Year program in our corporate headquarters of Springfield, Ill. Local agents often partner with their school districts to offer recognition and sponsorships specific to that district’s needs.
Keeping educators safe
The HMDrive mobile app helps keep our driving teachers safe by providing personalized insights to each driver. Each trip is scored using a star rating, and trips over the previous two weeks are compiled into an overall score. Drivers improve their scores by avoiding risky behavior, such as speeding, hard braking and acceleration, aggressive cornering and cellphone use while driving. Drivers can compete with others and track their personal trends, streaks and achievements.