MINNEAPOLIS, (April 19, 2006) - Ameriprise Financial (NYSE: AMP) today launched its second podcast in a series of two that feature discussions about the landmark study, The New Retirement Mindscape from Ameriprise Financial. The podcast is available on the web at ameriprise.com/sponsors-podcasts and is also accessible from the Apple iTunes Music Store Podcast Directory.
In this second edition, Rusty Field, Vice President of Financial Education and Planning Services - Ameriprise Retirement Services, discusses the findings of The New Retirement Mindscape study from a workplace perspective, exploring implications for employers, employees and retirement plan benefits. Janet McCune, Group Vice President - Ameriprise Retirement Services, leads the discussion.
The dialogue reveals insights about how the emotional stages of retirement impact workers and their savings behaviors as they begin the transition fifteen years or more prior to their actual retirement date. While this emotional journey is inevitable, understanding these stages can help employers more accurately measure the effectiveness of their retirement plan benefits, improve the design of their retirement plans and better shape their retirement education programs to help more of their employees achieve retirement security.
Remarks from Rusty Field excerpted from the podcast:
"We spend our whole lives defining ourselves around our work, and sometimes twenty, thirty, forty years in the workplace. Then, all of the sudden, we are done. Have we defined the social connections that we want, have we defined what we want to be doing, have we thought about how we are going to fill our life-which could last for thirty years in retirement-with something different that´s meaningful to us, that motivates us and that keeps us energized in that phase?"
"Employers need to think about changing the concept of how we measure the success of the [retirement] plan-from the traditional metrics of participation, that´s important, fund performance, that´s important; but are people truly using the plan effectively? And are they going to be able to generate retirement income to be able to live those years and be better prepared financially to manage the emotional stages that we just talked about?"
The first podcast in this series is still available online, and features a conversation between Craig Brimhall, Vice President of Retirement Wealth Strategies for Ameriprise Financial, and Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D., CEO of Age Wave and one of the nation´s foremost visionaries and original thinkers regarding the lifestyle, marketing and workforce implications of the "age wave" or baby boomer generation.
About The Study
Working with Age Wave and Ken Dychtwald Ph.D., as well as Harris Interactive, a leading market research firm known for the Harris Poll ®, Ameriprise Financial launched a national survey in August 2005, the first study to explore people´s attitudes, worries, behaviors, ambitions, and needs in retirement. The New Retirement Mindscape study was fielded to more than 2,000 Americans ages 40-75 and revealed the five emotional stages of progression into retirement. Harris Interactive fielded the study via a telephone survey in August 2005 to 2,000 adults age 40 to 75 with a margin of error of the overall sample of +/- 2.2 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.
About Ameriprise Retirement Services
Ameriprise Retirement Services, a service group of Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. and Ameriprise Trust Company, provides employers with an extensive package of financial education, recordkeeping, investments and directed trustee services for their retirement plans, as well as workplace financial education programs. For more information on Ameriprise Retirement Services, visit ameriprise.com/sponsors.
Ameriprise Financial, Inc. is a leading financial planning and services company that provides solutions for clients´ asset accumulation, income management and insurance protection needs. Through a nationwide network of more than 10,000 financial advisors, Ameriprise Financial delivers tailored solutions to clients through a personalized financial planning approach built on a long-term relationship with a knowledgeable advisor. The Company specializes in meeting the retirement-related financial needs of the mass affluent. Financial advisory services and investments are available through Ameriprise Financial Services, Member NASD and SIPC. For more information, visit ameriprise.com.
Ameriprise Retirement Services is a service group of Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. and Ameriprise Trust Company. Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc., Member NASD, offers registered investments and financial planning services. Ameriprise Trust Company offers retirement plan related services and provides collective funds.
For more details on the study findings, and to get a copy of The Dream BookSM, visit ameriprise.com/mindscape.
© 2006 Ameriprise Financial, Inc. All rights reserved.
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