Empower 401K

Beltifi · September 2

I've been trying since Friday to reconnect my Empower account. It used to work, but now it throws an error message saying, "(Care code: FDP-155) We are unable to connect to Empower Retd. - 401K at this time."

Steps I took to reconnect

1. Click on the try again button, throw an error
2. Disconnected, to log in back in with my username and password, still nothing, same error
3. Waiting for today, click the try again button, still nothing, same error.

Please advise

Coach Natalie · September 3

@Beltifi, thanks for reaching out to the Community!

I checked your connection attempts from our end, and it looks like what you're reporting is known behavior for Empower. Please see my comment here for more info:

https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/comment/40130#Comment_40130

I'd suggest trying to add the account at a later time, outside of peak hours. Let us know how it goes!

-Coach Natalie

Beltifi · September 3

@Coach Natalie

I want to make sure I'm clear on the current issue.

- Empower blocks transaction downloads from 5:01 AM to 11:59 PM PST daily. However, you can still add accounts during this time.

- Account additions will go through, but customers won't see any transactions or holdings during those hours.

- Transactions will be downloaded between 12:00 AM and 5:00 AM PDT, either through batch processing or during refresh attempts.

- Customers will mostly get their transactions through batch processing, which might trigger the FDP-155 error.

=====

I'm trying to avoid showing my investment accounts here, but I don't think the above picture fully reflects the issue I'm now having with Empower in Simplifi. So bear with me, and I hope it makes sense.

Yes, I do see that the account is showing in the "Portfolio" section, which I assume will continue to show even though it is showing the FDP-155 error.

The problem that is still occurring is that it shows a balance of zero in the "Balance" and "Performance" sections, which is now affecting my investment report. Both areas are now showing a balance of zero, either an inefficient fund or a negative amount.

The only thing that is correct now is the Portfolio section. Please advise.

Let me know if I need to supply anything else.

Coach Natalie · September 4

@Beltifi, thanks for the reply!

To clarify, were you able to get the accounts reconnected; did the FDP-155 error clear up? To add a bit of education to this, the balance for connected investment accounts in the Accounts List will be provided by the bank, whereas the balance in the Portfolio is derived from the Holdings. The Investments: Balance feature is based on the account balance in the Accounts List, and I believe the Investments: Performance feature is as well.

https://help.simplifimoney.com/en/articles/5167335-how-do-my-investment-balances-update#h_6eb65f62e3

With that, if the accounts are connected to the bank, they will most likely not update until the nighttime batch updates that occur, or by manually updating during the hours of midnight-5 AM PT. How do things look for you today?

-Coach Natalie

Beltifi · September 4

@Coach Natalie Apparently, my account has never reconnected. I have tried disconnecting it and trying to reconnect within the window provided, but I still get the error. I also clicked the "try again" button, but still nothing. Please see the image below.

Jayjay · September 4

Hi @Coach Natalie

I got the similar error too when connecting empower 401k( my employer uses empower 401k to manage 401k with employee) . Error message: "We are unable to connect to Empower Retd. - 401K at this time."

I am not even able to add my account.

https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/comment/40351#Comment_40351

Mike Popiel · September 4

Hello,

I am also having the exact same issue with my Empower 401k account.

Coach Natalie · September 4

For anyone receiving an FDP-155 error when attempting to add an Empower account, you will want to try again outside of peak hours. For those receiving the FDP-155 error when updating Empower accounts, this is to be expected outside of the hours of midnight-5 AM PT.

https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/comment/40130#Comment_40130

Please let us know how it goes! Thanks!

-Coach Natalie

Beltifi · September 5

Curreny 4:40 am EST, 1:40 AM PT. Still nothing, I am still disconnected, and I’m still not able to reconnect. I am still not able to sync.

Mike Popiel · September 5

As of 5:48 EST I was able to connect my account.

Beltifi · September 5

I am able to connect now, with no errors. 7 AM Eastern time, 4 AM PT time.

mnox · September 7

I'm currently seeing this issue and came across this thread. I'm trying this at 2:25am CST (Sat, 07 Sep 2024 07:25:24 GMT from the Debug). When I debug (F12 in Windows Browsers) the session, I found that during the poll, the response (in json format) is:

{
    "institutionLoginId": "{removed}",
    "mode": "DISCOVER_AND_ADD_ACCOUNTS",
    "status": "AGGREGATOR_IN_ERROR",
    "aggregators": [
        {
            "channel": "FDP_DEFAULT",
            "cpId": "{removed}",
            "aggStatus": "FI_BLOCKING",
            "cpAggStatusCode": "FDP-155",
            "cpAggStatusDetail": "Error 155 Empower Window Blocking Intuit network access from 5 AM PST to 1 AM PST",
            "isProcessing": false
        }
    ],
    "isProcessing": false
}

Looks like the allowed time is from 1 AM PST to 5 AM PST. I'll try again at 3am CST, which is 1am PST).

mnox · September 7

It went through with no problem at 3:17am. Originally, I had it set as "Empower Retd. - 401K", but I tried using "Empowerretirment". It took my ID/Password but would not do the MFA. When I went back to the "Empower Retd. - 401K", the MFA worked. The URL for my accounts is https://participant.empower-retirement.com.

Here's the screenshot of the choices. Not sure how people are supposed to know the difference. This is a 401K and Pension.

So it is working (for now ) 🤞

L.K. · September 8

Hello, I am also having the exact same issue with my Empower 401k account. Very annoying.

Coach Kristina · September 8

Hello @L.K.,

When I check on our end, I can see the following error message:

Have you tried connecting to your account outside that timeframe?

Thank you!

tkuligowski · September 9

I was able to add my Empower account and get and updated balance. However, the only way I will I ever get an updated balance is if I wake up in the middle of the night and refresh manually? Without doing that I will always get the FDP-155 error? If that's true, there no way Simplifi can do this refresh for me during the allowed hours of account syncing?

Coach Natalie · September 9

@tkuligowski, that's great you were able to get connected!

Per the information we received regarding Empower, the FDP-155 error is to be expected during their "blocking hours", but the data will still be updated through the nightly batch updates, which will refresh in Quicken Simplifi the next time you launch the program.

https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/comment/40130#Comment_40130

I hope this helps clear things up!

-Coach Natalie

imdZigman · September 9

I’m having the same issue, and I think the workaround again leaves a gap. I already attempted (unsuccessfully) to reset my connection. Since I did that during blocking hours, it was unsuccessful, so disconnected my account. So…apparently the ONLY way we can reconnect is by getting up in the middle of the night to reconnect it? That’s annoying to say the least.

Dave L · September 10

I am unable to connect with Empower after several days and after several reset attempts.

Dave L · September 10

Not sure what’s going on. This extends an on-growing and concerning list of connection issues, some that have not been resolved for months: PENNYMAC, Toyota Financial, and Coinbase. If all my connections are broken, my subscription has lost all utility.

Coach Natalie · September 10

@Dave L, thanks for posting to the Community!

I went ahead and merged your post with this ongoing thread. Please see our update regarding Empower here:

https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/comment/40130#Comment_40130

With that, if your account is already connected in Quicken Simplifi, the FDP-155 error is to be expected during the day, but the account will still refresh during automatic nightly updates. If you're receiving the FDP-155 error when adding an Empower account, please try again at a later time, outside of peak hours. Some users outlined times that worked for them in the discussion above.

Please let us know how it goes!

-Coach Natalie

JoenKim · September 15

My Empower 401k showed $0 for about a week so I switched it to manual. I’ll try to reconnect between 0000 and 0500. What an inconvenience…

Dave L · September 17

@Coach Natalie I was able to reconnect in off hours, but then it broke again and started throwing errors. If this is expected behavior, and the connection will fix itself, I’d make a feature request to not immediately throw errors. Or if it won’t fix itself, I would suggest moving this to know connection issues. Tons of people all having the same issue in the same window of time. The app is messaging on the Home Screen that an issue needs my attention and that something is broken.

imdZigman · September 17

@Coach Natalie. I’m experiencing this too. I was able to successfully reconnect during Empower’s “non-restricted” hours. Two observations:

the update worked, but as @Dave L notes above, the error shows up all the time during the “restricted” hours, which is most of the time. I have similar issues with Vanguard during their restricted period.
The updates worked for a few days, but did not work in the most recent unrestricted period. Not sure if it will reconnect tonight, but will check with tech support if not.

tkuligowski · September 17

In my experience you are always going to see the error there, but pay attention to the balance. My balance is updated when I open Simplifi everyday, but the error stays there. If this is the experience we have to live with going forward then it would be nice if there is a way to hide errors that are going to be permanent. I am happy that at least my balance is updating daily. Helps me track net worth and makes one less account I need to login separately too to check a balance.

Beltifi · September 17

Just to add some more transparency, I always wake up at 5 AM Eastern time to update my app, not many people can do that, but when I revisit in the afternoon, I get the below error.

There’s no fixing this, so this should not show up as an option. I think that is what frustrates people because if there’s no option to fix it, why have this error popped up?

I would also use this opportunity to update the error message with a note that I can only update it in a specific window because the message for "unable to connect" is just too generic here.

Coach Natalie · September 17

Hey everyone, I think this Idea post may cover what's being discussed in regard to dismissing or not seeing the error:

https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/10044/ability-to-dismiss-the-exclamation-point-in-the-accounts-list-when-an-account-has-an-error-edited

Otherwise, yes, the FDP-155 error is to be expected. My comment here has the details:

https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/comment/40130#Comment_40130

Thanks!

-Coach Natalie

Dave L · September 19

@Coach Natalie I think the idea is not to dismiss but…

1) for it to work properly

2) if there is a known “good time” to pull data that the app not bother the user when it fails on attempts to pull data during a “bad time”. Which begs the question, why is the connection trying to refresh data if you all already know it will fail during certain “bad time” hours?

Top line: this should not be the users’ problem to solve.

TheFaunPrince · September 19

Ditto on Dave's comment.

Dave L · September 21

The connection continues to fail on nights and weekends. It just failed in me on a Saturday. I don’t think this is normal. I’ve not had this institution’s connections fail this many times and on off hours ever before now. I feel this needs to be investigated.

Dave L · September 23

I attempted again this morning during off hours and it is still failing.

Empower 401K

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