As employee benefits professionals, much of your focus is probably towards ensuring employees are saving in the company-sponsored retirement plan. Participation rates, deferral amounts, and match formulas might fill your day-to-day thoughts on the financial standing of employees, and it's for good reason: An employer-sponsored retirement plan has steadfastly become the primary vehicle people in the United States use to save for their futures. 

It's no secret that financial literacy is not a strong skill for many Americans. In a recent study, it was noted that nearly two-thirds of adults couldn't pass a basic financial literacy test. That fact is not too surprising when you consider that currently, only 4 states require students to take a personal finance class in order to graduate. With rising student loan debt, increases in the cost of living, and medical costs continuing their upward trajectory, how can we get a handle on our financial lives?

Do you know what's trending? With all of the important duties that come with managing an employee benefits program, the plethora of changing regulatory changes and of course, the up's and down's of the investment world, it can be hard to stay on top of what's new. 

Hugh O'Toole, a speaker at our 2016 Employee Benefits Symposium, is disrupting employee benefits with data. After years of working for MassMutual heading up retirement plan distribution and relationship management, Hugh O'Toole broke out on his own. With that, Viability Advisory Group was born where he developed a patent-pending analysis program to show companies, based on their specific demographics and benefits offering, how their employees' lack of retirement preparedness has long-standing effects not just on those individuals, but on a business as a whole. 

In this interview, we explore Hugh's road to the financial services industry, how his innovative use of data is changing the industry, and how he works with CFOs to implement important changes that are good for not just a company, but for everyone.