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Business Profile

Employee Benefits Insurance

Empower Retirement

This business is NOT BBB Accredited.

Find BBB Accredited Businesses in Employee Benefits Insurance.

Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Empower Retirement's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see

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Empower Retirement has 6 locations, listed below.

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    Customer Complaints Summary

    • 571 total complaints in the last 3 years.
    • 193 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

    If you've experienced an issue

    Submit a Complaint

    The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

    Sort by

    Complaint status

    Complaint type

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:06/24/2025

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      At the begining of the year, ********************* informed all employees that we were to pick up a 401K plan, I opted out of this plan (denial of service). On my first paycheck in march of 2025, I noticed that funds were deducted. I contacted my employer and was told to contacted empower. Upon doing so, I made sure to inform them that no money was to be deducted. By the time this request was fulfilled, over $200 was gone. When I requested a refund, I was told that only my company's corporate office could do that, and must be fufilled within 5 days.This seems to be a fraud company

      Business Response

      Date: 06/26/2025

      Thank you for bringing BBB Complaint
      # 23511067 dated 6/24/2025 to our attention. In order to protect the privacy of our
      account holders, we will research the situation and will respond directly to Mr. Harden. We again appreciate you bringing this matter to us for review. 

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:06/23/2025

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      Empower, 401 company through an old employer closed out my account and sent me a check . I did not authorize this. Also there was only ***** in the account. They charged me a ***** administration fee and sent me a check for 1 dollar.

      Business Response

      Date: 06/24/2025

      Thank you for bringing BBB Complaint #23507017
      dated June 23, 2025, to our attention. Upon conducting a thorough review of the
      situation, we responded directly to the customer in our letter dated June 24,
      2025. While we are unable to share the details of this response with the BBB
      due to privacy concerns, the customer may share this response with the BBB at
      their discretion. We again appreciate you bringing this matter to us for
      review.

      Sincerely,

      Empower

      Customer Answer

      Date: 06/24/2025

       

      Complaint: 23507017



      I am rejecting this response because:



      Sincerely,



      Ethan Boyer

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:06/20/2025

      Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      My husband passed away on 4/17/20, due to being infected with COVID-19. This was a very tragic event for me and my children. We are still grieving and trying to manage life without him. He retired from ***************** after 40 years of service. He had an ***************** Prefunding Plan (associated with Retiree Medical coverage ), this plan was managed by Empower. They sent me a letter notifying me that I am his designated beneficiary in the ***************** Prefunding Plan, which contains a balance that is available for distribution. Empower is the service provider for the plan, and as a beneficiary I am entitled to these funds. I was instructed to complete a W-9 and return it to Empower by fax at ************. The documents were faxed on 1/21/25. There was no response. On 5/9/25, I contacted Empower at ************, and was advised that they had not received the fax, although I had a confirmation that it had been transmitted successfully. On 5/9/25, I mailed the forms directly to Empower P.O. *************************. I still received no response from Empower. On 6/11/25, I contacted Empower at ************, and spoke to *****, Reference# ********, who advised that I needed to complete a request for beneficiary designation, which was confusing since they sent me a letter stating that I am the beneficiary. ***** advised that I could receive the form by mail or by email. I requested that the form be sent via email. I was advised that the email would be sent within 24-hours. The email was not received. Instead, I received a letter in the mail with an Event ID: ********, instructing me to call **************. On 6/16/25, I called **************, and spoke to *****. I informed her that I had spoken to ***** on 6/11/25, and he never sent the form. She requested to run a credit check to verify my identity. Then said wait 2 days to receive the email. It is 6/20/25, and still no email. This is unacceptable and very unprofessional.

      Business Response

      Date: 07/07/2025

      Thank you for bringing BBB Complaint # ******** dated June 20, 2025, to our attention. Upon conducting a thorough review of the situation,we responded directly to the customer in our letter dated July 7, 2025. While we are unable to share the details of this response with the BBB due to privacy concerns, the customer may share this response with the ******************** at their discretion. We again appreciate you bringing this matter to us for review.
      Sincerely,
      Empower

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:06/18/2025

      Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I'm the victim of domestic Assault and facing eviction. Empower keeps giving excuses. They want let me take out a hardship withdrawal. I can barely understand what there saying. The more days that keeps passing is a day closer for my belongings to be on the curb and me sleeping on my car. A coworker of mine last year got her hardship withdrawals without having to run around town to get all this paperwork that they want me to provide. Before the eviction and domiistic. I had my dislikes about Empower. I don't like the way they were managing my money. Along with this . I really don't want to do business with them. I feel my money is on jeopardy with this company. If my stuff is out outside. It's because I can't access my own money in a emergency. This whole system may need to be looked into .

      Business Response

      Date: 07/03/2025

      Thank you for bringing BBB Complaint #******** June dated June 29, 2025, to our attention. In order to protect the privacy of our account holders, we will research the situation and will respond to the customer directly in writing. We again appreciate you bringing this matter to us for review.

      Sincerely,

      Empower

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:06/18/2025

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I filed for a hardship and they keep sending me back the same rejection letter and Im sending the right information. I have sent it over three times.

      Business Response

      Date: 07/07/2025

      Thank you for bringing Better Business Bureau Complaint #******** to our attention. Upon conducting a thorough review of the situation, we responded directly to the customer in our letter dated July ******. While we are unable to share the details of this response with the BBB due to privacy concerns, the customer may share this response with the ******************** at their discretion. We again appreciate you bringing this matter to us for review. 

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:06/16/2025

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      05/06/2025 I requested a loan/withdraw from my 401 k of ********. I was promised I should receive money by check within 10 business days. All of my information at the time of the application was correct. I called when I never received the check. They reissued new check. Still never received that one. Called back explained everything. They kept changing my address to a PO Box that I do not have. I told them this that the address in the beginning was correct to stop changing. I asked them to just cancel the loan due to not receiving the funds. They said they could not. I asked for them to be sent Direct Deposit (that is an option on the application if you want to be charged $50.00). They said by the loan states a check was being processed they could not. So reissued new check. Finally received like the 6th check that was sent. I called them told them i received the check. Deposited in my account. Paid my credit cards off due to needing to use them for a trip to nationwide children's hospital for my autistic son. (Thats what the loan was for). Received notification address was changed again, and a stop payment was made on the check I received! Contacted them back again, said there was nothing they could do that employer had wrong address Spoke with employer they had correct address. Told them my check would be returned which would be resulting in my account being OVERDRAFTED, and fees be attached as well as my payments to my credit cards being returned which would affect my credit score!!!! Said there was nothing they could do other than keep reissuing checks. (WHICH IS THE PROBLEM!) I just want my money since I am being charged. I want all this fixed, this has been the worst experience ever. Also, customer service center has been very rude and hateful like they do not care! Makes me feel all of this is my fault which obviously isn't because I KNOW WHAT MY ADDRESS IS!

      Business Response

      Date: 07/01/2025

      Thank you for bringing Better Business Bureau Complaint # ******** dated June 16, 2025, to our attention. Upon conducting a thorough review of the situation, we responded directly to the customer in our letter dated July 1, 2025. While we are unable to share the details of this response with the BBB due to privacy concerns, the customer may share this response with the ******************** at their discretion. We again appreciate you bringing this matter to us for review. 

      Sincerely,

      Empower

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:06/13/2025

      Type:Order Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I am not obligated for the debt claimed by *********. There is no contractual agreement between me and *********, and they have not furnished the original agreement as requested.

      Business Response

      Date: 06/18/2025

      Thank you for bringing BBB
      Complaint #23466755, dated June 13, 2025, to our attention. Upon conducting a
      thorough review, this appears to have been misrouted to Empower Retirement. The
      complaint is related to obligations for debt collection. We are a retirement
      plan record keeping financial holding company and are not involved in debt
      collection. Although we have similar names, this may be related to Empower
      Inc./Empower Finance, which we are in no way affiliated with. Questions for
      Empower Finance may be directed to them at 888-943-8967.

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:06/12/2025

      Type:Customer Service Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I contacted Empower about a rollover of my *** with Ameriprise, into my current 401K on May 14th, 2025. There was an initial 3 way phone conversation with representatives from both Ameriprise, Empower and myself, discussing the necessary documents needed to proceed. I fulfilled what was requested and allowed 2 weeks with no action taken. I contacted Ameriprise about the delay and was told they were still waiting on a document from Empower. I then contacted Empower and was told that I needed to submit additional documents with a "medallion" stamp affixed and have done so. It has now been an additional 10 days without any action on the part of Empower and have tried to reach a representative that can explain to me what the delay is and when it will be resolved. If this 401K wasn't with my current employer (********* ) I would already have closed it and invested my retirement with another company. This is extremely poor customer service on the part of ********************** and would like others to be aware of their bad performance when it comes to customer service.

      Business Response

      Date: 06/16/2025

      Thank you for bringing BBB Complaint # ******** dated June 12, 2025, to our attention. In order to protect the privacy of our account holders, we will research the situation and will respond to the customer directly in writing. We again appreciate you bringing this matter to us for review.

      Sincerely,

      Empower

      Customer Answer

      Date: 06/16/2025

       
      Better Business Bureau:

      I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

      Sincerely,

      **** ********

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:06/07/2025

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      When I attempted to look up my retirement plan through a former employer, I was told by the retirement company, the employer switched agencies. i searched through my emails and found the notice that my account was switched to Empower. I tried to access my account online, but could not, even though I submitted my birthday and social security number, and other information. I called the company, gave them my information, then was asked a series of questions to confirm my identity, to which I failed. I answered all the questions honestly. They were questions about the age of my house, our mortgate etc. I was then told they would send me a letter in the mail, with a pin number, that would allow me access to my account. I received the letter two weeks later, but when I tried to access my account, following the prompts online and over the phone, I still could not gain access. I was able to speak with a representative, who could not verify my information. Furthermore, she asked for my phone number to send me a text, but that did not go through. She had no explanation for this. The representative took all my information, and wanted to ask me more questions to verify me. At this point, I asked for a supervisor. I was told one was not available. I am waiting to be contacted by a supervisor some time next week. I am very confused and concerned that after giving the representative a lot of my personal information, and also receiving a pin number, that I still do not have access to my account. I would appreciate any assistance in gaining access to my account. Thank you

      Business Response

      Date: 06/23/2025

      Thank you for bringing Better Business Bureau
      Complaint #23438202 to our attention. Upon conducting a thorough review of the
      situation, we responded directly to the customer in our letter dated June 23, 2025.
      While we are unable to share the details of this response with the BBB due to
      privacy concerns, the customer may share this response with the BBB at their
      discretion. We again appreciate you bringing this matter to us for review. 

      Customer Answer

      Date: 06/24/2025

       

      Better Business Bureau:



      I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 23438202, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.




      Sincerely,



      Eugenia Kramer

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:05/30/2025

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      They do not allow me to access my account. They say it's because of an address issue and won't verify my account with my current address, but they have mailed things to my current address.

      Business Response

      Date: 06/02/2025

      Thank you for bringing BBB Complaint # ******** dated May 30, 2025, to our attention. Upon conducting a thorough review of the situation, we responded directly to the customer in our letter dated June 2, 2025. While we are unable to share the details of this response with the BBB due to privacy concerns, the customer may share this response with the ******************** at their discretion. We again appreciate you bringing this matter to us for review.

      Sincerely,

      Empower

      Customer Answer

      Date: 06/09/2025

       
      Complaint: 23398249

      I am rejecting this response because:

      I did not receive a letter by mail from the business.

      Sincerely,

      ****** ********

      Customer Answer

      Date: 06/13/2025

      I received a letter from the company after sending my initial response rejecting the business response. I am working on completing the form they mailed.  However please leave the case open until access is granted. 

    Empower Retirement is NOT a BBB Accredited Business.

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