Products August 21, 2007

Pacific Life Offers Guide to Retirement Products and Strategies

Pacific Life Insurance Company and Pacific Life&Annuity Company have introduced the "Road to Retirement" guide and the Retirement Income Needs fact finder to help financial professionals address the need for additional retirement income with their clients.
Reported by

The new Road to Retirement guide provides an overview and comparison of retirement products and options for maximizing savings, according to Alyce Peterson, vice president of marketing services for the Life Insurance Division of Pacific Life.

Advisers can get a copy of the “Road to Retirement’ guide by contacting their Pacific Life or Pacific Life & Annuity representative, or by calling 866-722-9555.

Never miss a story — sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan adviser news.

In addition, financial professionals appointed with Pacific Life and/or Pacific Life & Annuity can access interactive retirement tools and other retirement related materials at the new virtual Retirement Center at www.Lifeline.PacificLife.com. The Retirement Center includes retirement calculators, Retirement Architect software, sales ideas featuring life insurance, and PowerPoint presentations for clients.

Data & Research August 20, 2007

Few Workers Have Adviser-Driven Retirement Plan

Only 16% of respondents surveyed by Thrivent Financial Services for Lutherans said they had undertaken a formal retirement planning process with an adviser, though 34% said they had done serious calculations of their retirement needs on their own.
Reported by

However, 59% reported they had done neither, according to a report about the Thrivent poll.

Looking into a cause for their lack of financial preparedness for retirement, Thrivent asked boomers what was the greatest obstacle to saving for retirement. Thirty-five percent said starting to save and invest too late in life, and 32% of baby boomers believed the cost of health care or health insurance was an obstacle. A low-paying job, credit card debt, and the cost of housing rounded out the top five obstacles to being financially prepared at 29%, 28%, and 27%, respectively.

Never miss a story — sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan adviser news.

Though 71% of baby boomers cited a lack of money as the single greatest issue that might prevent them from accomplishing their goals in retirement, most (59%) said they have not done any formal retirement planning.

The baby boomers surveyed were generally optimistic about retirement, with 56% saying they will have the same or better standard of living than their parents. However, only 20% said they believe they will worry less about money in their retirement years than their parents.

Although generally optimistic about having enough money in retirement, survey results indicated a perceived lack of money influenced how boomers envisioned spending their retirement years. Forty-five percent said they were likely to travel within the U.S. when they retire, followed by 39% who said they were likely to spend more time with children and grandchildren.

Few boomers surveyed said they would likely be able to leave a significant inheritance (5%), start a new business (6%), or contribute more money to organizations they care about (7%).

Almost half (43%) of boomers surveyed said they plan to work either full- or part-time in retirement. When asked why, 39% said they will need the additional income, while 30% said they will work to keep busy.

The survey interviewed 2,500 individuals, ages 45 to 64, who had not yet retired.

The survey report is available at http://www.thrivent.com/newsroom/pdf/TFLResearchReportFINAL.pdf.

«