Non-Profit Coalition Aims to Improve Financial Dignity for Boomers


Retirement Planning Helps Protect Against Market Shocks

Park Ridge, IL – September 23, 2008 – As both the housing market and stock market have declined this year, they've taken a big chunk of retirement assets for the Baby Boomer generation with them. That only adds to the woes of a generation that many experts say has done a poor job planning for their future. To help Boomers better understand and address the unique financial challenges they'll face in retirement, 11 non-profit financial associations, representing more than 200,000 financial services professionals around the world, have formed an unprecedented collaboration called The Partnership for Retirement Education and Planning (PREP).

"Unfortunately, the Boomer generation as a whole has not planned well for what is likely to be a lengthy retirement for most of them," says Philip E. Harriman, CLU, ChFC, past president of the Million Dollar Round Table and spokesperson for the PREP coalition. "Recent research shows only one-third of retirees are very confident they will have enough money to take care of basic expenses. Current market dynamics increase their anxiety."