Don't yell at your kids to get off the Xbox and play outside just yet. Staring blankly at a video screen for hours on end might actually help them in future endeavors.
It seems that gamification will be a major trend in financial services, if predictions by Dev Ganguly pan out. The assistant vice president of technology at Jackson National Life said clients would play a game to earn something "like a credit score," which would tell them how well-prepared they are for retirement, college savings for a child or some other goal.
"It will help advisors and clients stay ahead of the curve," Ganguly explained at Curian Capital's top advisor conference in Chicago last week. "Technology will be the facilitator and it will play into our competitive nature. Hit something like 1,000 points and you'll be set for life."
It will work something like this: with each new account, the client's score will be raised. Begin with a base plan and score. Add a 529 plan and the score goes up; add an IRA and it rises further.
If this sounds familiar, it's because the health care industry has employed these tactics for a few years to drive healthy behaviors like losing weight. It's now ramping up in financial services, with Mint.com's thermometer measurement as the most high-profile example.
"Moving forward, it will let you see how you're doing against your own goals as well as how you're doing against other people," Ganguly added.
