Nassau Re/Imagine hosted a forum, “Delivering Products of the Future for the Next Generation of Retirees, Reimagining Retirement”, where our CEO and Co-Founder, Scott Moody, and other industry thought leaders discussed the rapid advances in technology and the impact on those looking at retirement.

Our Virtual Discussion Forum

In a virtual forum on December 15, 2020, we discussed how we could rewrite the code for managing a successful retirement. We discussed a range of potential outcomes. This included radically redesigning annuities as we know them. It extended as far as thinking about life in retirement as a giant app connecting the retiree to a range of services where insurance is really just the battery keeping the system working. We will synthesize our discussion and provide a roadmap for future product developers to potentially follow in the coming years.

Context

The definition of retirement products may entirely change as we emerge from the pandemic. Structural changes in our economy may result in very slow growth. Interest rates may remain at record low levels over the next five years. As a result, traditional retirement savings products may not deliver the growth and income potential needed by consumers in later years. However, rapid advances in technology offer a new range of potential services that could change the math for a happy and secure life in retirement.

Current Industry Landscape

Prior to COVID-19, the traditional retirement industry invested significant resources attempting to encourage more people to save for retirement. In a recent study, entitled Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2018, the Federal Reserve found that that 17% of those aged 45- 59 reported having no retirement savings.1 Of that same group, only 42% felt they were on track to save for retirement. Studies have continuously demonstrated that general savings rates among the U.S. population continues to remain at very low levels.

Redesign the UX of Retirement

“There’s no such thing as a visionary and a pragmatist. Everybody’s a pragmatist. They need technology and now they recognize it.” — Scott Moody, K4Connect

The future retirement product could be an app that connects all services required for a happy life beyond work. Scott Moody, Co- founder and CEO of K4Connect, offers an app for digital life in assisted living centers across the country, as well as to individuals. COVID-19 opened new doors to this possibility. “Everybody’s familiar with the idea of crossing the chasm, the technology adoption curve. Senior living, that chasm, was actually relatively wide, so people were asking, ‘Do I need technology now? Can I wait until next quarter?’ Well, that chasm slammed shut, that’s over. There’s no such thing as a visionary and a pragmatist. Everybody’s a pragmatist. They need technology and now they recognize it.” Will traditional retirement products just be buttons on the interface of the future app or the battery that powers the entire device?

Visit Nassau Re/Imagine to read the entire Whitepaper, listen to the audio version, download the Whitepaper, watch the forum discussion as a video, or to learn more, by clicking here.

About Re/Imagine

Nassau Re/Imagine serves as incubator for companies intending to build a presence in Hartford. We actively support individuals and team committed to building a vibrant insurtech ecosystem in the heart of our insurance community.

At K4Connect, we’re focused on serving and empowering older adults and those living with disabilities. We do that by integrating the best in technology to help them live more independent, healthier, and more connected lives. 

January 26, 2021

By: Brooks Malone

Scott Moody is Founder, CEO, and Chairman of Raleigh-based K4Connect. K4 is a mission-centered company that integrates the latest advances in technology to serve and empower older adults and those living with disabilities. The company has raised more than $25 million in venture funding. Moody previously co-founded and was Chairman/CEO of AuthenTec, a leading provider of fingerprint sensor and security solutions, acquired by Apple. He is known in the Triangle area for a willingness to help other entrepreneurs and startups.

1. What is in your pockets?

The answer is: not a single thing. Nothing in my front pockets, nothing in my back pockets. I really don’t need my wallet walking around my house. I don’t need hand sanitizer walking around my house because we have a bunch of sinks with soap.

You’ve caught me on a unique day because I’m actually wearing pants. It could be pajama bottoms. I’ve often been wearing compression tights for just the soreness in my legs because I’ve been running more. Half the time we get in the car and realize I have to go back in and get my wallet.

2. What exciting thing has happened recently for you or your organization?

I don’t know if I would use the word “exciting.” What I would use is “important.” The foundation is to serve others, and there is no more important time than now to serve those that we serve. Our average member is an 85-year-old woman living in a senior living community. To keep them safe, to keep them fed, to keep them engaged, to keep them connected—particularly when we’re all managing through this COVID crisis—is particularly important.

At K4Connect, we’re focused on serving and empowering older adults and those living with disabilities. We do that by integrating the best in technology to help them live more independent, healthier, and more connected lives.

In today’s world, there are just so many various technologies that we all live with on a day-to-day basis. Everything from home automation devices to wellness devices and apps, to engagement tools like video chat and texts. We integrate them into a single system, then a single app specific for older adults and people living with disabilities.

That’s what we do in senior living communities. At the resident level, in their apartments, in their cottages, in their homes—we integrate all of these devices. All kinds of health and wellness apps from exercising to drug-fill reminders. Then we integrate a number of engagement apps, everything from video chat to ordering foods, to staying engaged at the community level. We integrate that into a single app.

Whether it’s at the resident level, at the community level or the staff level, we integrate everything that’s used technologically in that building into a single system. That makes it much easier for the residents to live there and for the operators to run their community. We all hear about video chats, staying engaged, and knowing that somebody is safe in their apartment, and our application K4Community actually does all of that. It’s particularly important at this time.

3. What is your favorite coffee spot?

I would love to speak of a local place, but I am a Starbucks fan, or at least I used to be a Starbucks fan. That usually doesn’t involve sitting in any coffee shop anymore, but it does usually involve grabbing a cup of coffee and then going out meeting with somebody outside in a park on a bench. Or a couple of times more recently as it’s gotten cold, in my backyard around the fire pit.

4. What keeps you up at night?

I’m not a good sleeper, unfortunately, like many CEOs. I have this habit of being up from 1 AM to 2 AM, or from 1 AM to 4 AM. As I get older, I’m trying to manage through it but once I wake up, my mind starts running. That’s through good or challenging times. It’s always, “What’s the next step,” and that could be in the good times.

Early in the COVID pandemic, it was, How do we manage through this? Our big thing now is, How do we meet the demand going forward?

Everybody recognizes the importance of technology and keeping people engaged and safe. Most of the time, it’s just a matter of speed. How fast can we go? Whether it’s our product roadmaps, whether it’s our overall growth. At the end of the day our mission is to serve others, and we want to do that for as many people as possible, as fast as possible. That’s why I felt I was originally called and why we founded the company. So, that’s probably the thing that keeps me up at night the most.

5. What is your favorite restaurant or happy hour?

So, I’m not a happy hour guy, but by far my favorite restaurant is Rey’s in Cary.  I am a creature of habit. I only go to one restaurant. Whether it’s a business or a personal dinner, people will ask, “Well, you’ve been here so many times, what’s your favorite meal?” I’m kind of a bad person to ask because I’ve only ever ordered one thing and that’s the New York Strip.

6. What is next for you or your organization?

I believe that we are all put here to serve others and that a corporation’s purpose is to form a group of people that can serve others better than we could have done individually. Our big focus is growing our business. Hopefully, we will eventually move that into the home. I don’t know if it’s the next thing we do, but certainly, it’s our intent.

[Editor’s Note: Scott was also a guest on the Pete Meets… podcast.]

This interview and more from GrepBeat, here!

By the end of the month, more than 1,400 Amazon Echo Show 8 devices will have been delivered to senior living communities in North Carolina, thanks to a federal grant.

January 20, 2021

By: Kimberly Bonvissuto

The North Carolina Assisted Living Association was awarded a state grant funded through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to help assisted living communities curb social isolation and facilitate safe visitation through technology. NCALA is partnering with K4Connect, a Raleigh, NC-based technology company, to bring the technology to every assisted living and family care home community in the state by Jan. 31.

The grant objective is to provide senior living residents and staff with technology that assists in three key areas: mental wellbeing, social isolation and virtual visitation.

Spring Arbor Senior Living launched voice capabilities last year across its North Carolina communities with Amazon Echo Dots. Spring Harbor Senior Vice President of Senior Living Rich Williams said it will place the Echo Show devices in its wellness areas and cafes.

“Partnering with K4Connect allows us to seamlessly scale the delivery and deployment of over 1,400 Amazon Echo Show devices to communities in need,” NCALA President and CEO Frances Messer said. “It is incredibly exciting to bring these resources to assisted living communities that continue to work so hard to provide the best care possible for the thousands of older adults in North Carolina.”

With the Echo Show, residents can video chat with family and friends, stay engaged through voice and touch-accessible entertainment options, and engage with technologies that provide utility in daily life.

“Our enterprise management capabilities enable us to safely deliver, deploy and support these devices at scale, getting them into the hands of communities quickly with absolute minimal impact on staff to manage setup and onboarding,” K4Connect Chief Growth Officer Keith Stewart said.

More from McKnight’s Senior Living, here!

The efforts made by the North Carolina Assisted Living Association and senior living-focused technology platform K4Connect, show how voice-activated technology has been utilized by senior living providers during the pandemic. The strong partnership between Amazon and K4Connect has helped this initiative move forward.

January 6, 2021

By Tim Mullaney

More than 1,400 Amazon Echo Show devices will be distributed to assisted living communities across North Carolina by the end of this month, at no cost to providers.

That’s thanks to efforts made by the North Carolina Assisted Living Association (NCALA) and senior living-focused technology platform K4Connect.

The association and K4Connect have worked together for some time, including on presentations that NCALA made to the North Carolina General Assembly about how to potentially ease Covid-19 burdens on assisted living communities, K4Connect Chief Growth Officer Keith Stewart told Senior Housing News.

As a result of those presentations, the General Assembly allocated several grants to NCALA. One such grant consisted of $500,000 derived from the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund, given with the mandate to help communities ease resident isolation through technology. Again working together, NCALA and K4Connect determined that providing the Amazon devices would be the most effective use of the money.

They reached this decision based on several factors, Stewart said. One factor was the strong relationship between Amazon and K4Connect; the two companies worked together to create the Alexa for Hospitality tools and earlier this year, distributed 8,400 Amazon Dot devices to assist senior living providers nationwide during the pandemic.

Because it incorporates a visual element with its screen, the Echo Show devices are even more well-suited than Dots for older adult users, Stewart said. Rather than just using their voices to activate and control the devices, the screen can create prompts and suggestions to help support and guide the user experience. The idea is that communities can set up the Echo Shows in common areas, where residents will be able to use them to connect virtually with friends and family.

The relationship with Amazon also helped in achieving the logistical feat of bulk purchasing the devices and having them all delivered to Raleigh during the Christmas season, Stewart noted.

Now, the Echo Shows are all available for distribution. Interested assisted living providers can register via a website to receive up to one device for every 40 residents. So far, based on registrations received via that site and work K4Connect has done with its existing clients, about 250 registrations have been received, Stewart said. The organizations anticipate having nearly all communities in the state registered by Jan. 15, and the devices delivered by the end of the month.

K4Connect is pre-configuring the Echo Shows based on information in each community’s registration, so that they basically can be used straight out of the box. And K4Connect is offering one year of support, with an option for communities to extend beyond that. K4Connect is receiving grant money to cover the costs of this effort, but it is not meant to drive profits, Stewart noted.

This is just the latest example of how voice-activated technology has been utilized by senior living providers during the pandemic. In another instance, Merrill Gardens deployed Google Nest devices, which have proven beneficial.

“100% it’s in line with the direction we’re heading and the direction we think the industry is going,” Stewart said of the increase in voice tech within senior living.

K4Connect will receive data about what functions are being used most often, which will enable the company to help providers maximize their effectiveness. Ultimately, data on this initiative will be shared with the General Assembly, to demonstrate the impact of this investment. Stewart is confident that the data will prove out the value of the technology, and that confidence is shared by NCALA President and CEO Frances Messer.

“NCALA is honored to have received this grant and confident it will bring value to our assisted living communities throughout the state,” Messer said in a press release issued Wednesday.

More from Senior Housing News, here!