Boomertirement® Road Shows PREP Financial Advisors

Key Messages:

• There is a growing retirement crisis in the United States.
• The Boomertirement Road Shows provided new industry research, best practices and community tools advisors can use to help Baby Boomers take action to better prepare for retirement.
• The Partnership for Retirement Education and Planning (PREP) is an unprecedented coalition of 11 non-profit organizations representing more than 200,000 financial advisors who are working to provide retirement education to Boomers and younger generations.
• PREP hosted five Boomertirement® Road Shows in Dallas, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City in February and March 2009.

Park Ridge, Illinois March 6, 2009 — Today, in the United States, more than 8,000 people woke up to their 60^th birthday - making them closer to retirement age. Baby Boomers make up the largest generation in history to leave the workforce for retirement at one time. A global recession and lack of planning will leave many of them unprepared to meet financial needs. To help address the growing retirement crisis, financial advisors explored new ideas to help Boomers better prepare for their future at five Boomertirement® Road Show in Dallas, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City in February and March 2009.

"As Boomers realize they're getting closer to a time when they will want or need to work less, many are planning to rely on Social Security and Medicare as their primary life income and lifeboat during retirement," said Philip Harriman, CLU, ChFC, MDRT past president, partner in Lebel & Harriman, Falmouth, Maine. "As a financial advisor, it's easy to look at the current government programs available and be startled people are relying on them to meet their financial obligations."

Recognizing the seriousness of the Boomer retirement situation and the need to take unprecedented action, in the fall of 2008, 11 non-profit organizations formed the Partnership for Retirement Education and Planning (PREP) and signed the Financial Dignity Bill of Rights, a resolution to raise national awareness for retirement readiness. PREP associations represent more than 200,000 financial advisors.

The PREP coalition is working to better prepare financial advisors to work with Baby Boomers to meet the unique retirement challenges they face. This not only includes working with those Baby Boomers that come to their office, but also providing financial advisors the communications tools to hold educational outreach programs for Boomers in their local communities.

"All financial advisors have a stake in helping ensure Baby Boomer clients are prepared to enjoy their retirement years," Harriman added. "However, we also have a responsibility to proactively work with those individuals who wouldn't normally look to a financial advisor for retirement planning advice, to ensure they are educated and prepared to retire with dignity."

PREP held Boomertirement Road Shows in Dallas, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City to better equip financial advisors with best practices and new tools to help Baby Boomers. The Road Shows provided financial advisors across the country access to the latest industry research, best practices and community tools to help Baby Boomers take action to better prepare for retirement - even in these tough economic times.

Key presenters included Matt Thornhill, founder and president of The Boomer Project, and Tom Hegna, CLU, ChFC, CASL and vice president of New York Life Insurance Company. Thornhill, one of the nation's leading authorities on working with Boomers, unveiled new advisor- and consumer-focused research that provides unique insight about working with Boomers in today's financial environment. Hegna, who has given more than 2,000 presentations to agents, clients, prospects, attorneys and accountants across the country, shared specific ideas on how to present simple, yet powerful, solutions for retirement planning.

Attendees also heard from spokespeople from the Social Security Administration, who explained the newest resources available for advisors to use when discussing retirement planning with Boomers. Additionally, Harriman; Jeffrey Taggart, CLU, ChFC, LUTCF, NAIFA past president, UNIFI Companies; and James Tyrpak, CLU, ChFC, AEP, MSFS, FSP past president, president at Desmon, Kohnstamm & Tyrpak, presented simple reminders about using Lifestyle, Life Income and Lifeboats to help Boomers assess and plan for their financial future.

About PREP

Dedicated to improving financial literacy for Boomers, members of the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) and the Society of Financial Service Professionals (FSP) have founded PREP and are working in a concerted effort to provide awareness and education that will help Boomers take action in preparing for retirement. Other organizations including the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), Association for Advanced Life Underwriting (AALU), Association of Health Insurance Advisors (AHIA), GAMA International, Insurance Marketplace Standards Association (IMSA), Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education (LIFE), National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA) and Women in Insurance and Financial Services (WIFS) also have joined. To learn more about PREP, please visit www.PREPpartnership.com.