FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | November 18, 2002
CONTACT: George Millington, Walt & Company, (408) 496-0900, NRPC@walt.com

SENATOR BOB DOLE TO INAUGURATE NATIONAL RETIREMENT PLANNING WEEK

Endorsed by President George W. Bush, First National Campaign to Spotlight the Critical Importance of Planning for Retirement

Washington, D.C., November 18, 2002 — The National Retirement Planning Coalition (NRPC), a group of prominent financial industry and advocacy organizations, today announced a national campaign to heighten public awareness of the need for comprehensive retirement planning. To underscore this urgency, the NRPC has selected the week of November 18 as National Retirement Planning Week and has appointed Senator Bob Dole honorary chairperson of the coalition.

Acknowledging the critical importance of retirement planning, President George W. Bush has commended the NRPC’s efforts “to help ensure long-term financial well-being of countless citizens.”

“Americans today are living longer than ever before and want to enjoy robust, fulfilling lifestyles during retirement. However, the sobering statistics show that the majority of Americans dramatically underestimate the income needed to do so,” said Senator Dole, honorary chairperson of the NRPC. “Now more than ever, Americans need to plan for retirement. I want everyone to remember that it is not too late to ‘Retire on Your Terms.’”

The NRPC was formed to educate Americans, including the 77 million “baby boomers” nearing retirement, about the steps they need to take to ensure “retirement readiness.” Recognizing that retirement and its associated costs are as individual as each retiree, the NRPC has adopted a tagline that underscores its mission: Retire On Your Terms®.

National Retirement Planning Week and the “Retire on Your Terms” concept were established to focus the national spotlight on the critical need to begin comprehensive retirement planning. Retirement planning is a complex process, and savings are only one part of the retirement readiness equation. Through a broad-based awareness campaign, the goal of the NRPC is to provide consumers with the resources necessary to ensure their projected retirement income will support their desired retirement lifestyles.

Retirement Planning Inertia: A Crisis on a National Scale

The issue of retirement planning has been compounded by a national crisis in investor confidence. A tumbling stock market, the aftermath of 9/11, a sluggish economy, and many highly publicized cases of corporate fraud have had the negative effect of curtailing retirement savings. As a result, there is a crisis in retirement readiness: today more than 40 percent of households headed by a person nearing retirement lack the ability to maintain even half of their current income when they retire.

The statistics are sobering:

• As a result of the stock market drop, American investors have lost hundreds of billions of dollars in retirement investment accounts.
• The Fed funds rate, at 1.25 percent, is the lowest it has been in 41 years. This translates into seriously diminished incomes for those Americans who have retired on fixed-income investments.
• A recent study found that nearly two-thirds of respondents who saved did so for vacations or to pay down credit, while fewer than half saved for retirement.
• Only about 15 percent of working-age Americans have an IRA, and only 22 percent contribute to a 401(k) plan.
• The median benefit for women with income from private pensions or annuities is just $4,164, compared to $7,768 for men. Worse, only one in five women receives any private pension income.

National Retirement Planning Week Activities

Beginning with National Retirement Planning Week, the NRPC will be undertaking a number of initiatives to motivate Americans to seek professional financial retirement advice. Program initiatives include:

• A new consumer retirement planning Web site: www.RetireOnYourTerms.org
• A series of public service announcements featuring Senator Dole
• Free, regional consumer education seminars hosted by coalition members
• A series of public appearances by Senator Dole

About The NRPC

The National Retirement Planning Coalition brings together the leading financial industry and advocacy organizations for the purpose of educating consumers and financial industry professionals on the issues surrounding retirement planning. NRPC members include the Actuarial Foundation, the American Savings Education Council (ASEC), the Certified Financial Planners Board of Standards (CFPBS), the National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC), the National Association for Variable Annuities (NAVA), and the National Preretirement Education Association (NPEA).