Symetra Joins Effort to Tackle Americas Looming Retirement Crisis
Bellevue, Wash. — (February 28, 2006) — Symetra
SM Financial today announced it will become a founding member of the newly created Retirement Income Industry Association (RIIA). As a founding member, Symetra joins a core group of financial services organizations that support the association’s work to bring greater financial security to the millions of Americans nearing retirement.
Many of the nation’s 78 plus million baby-boomers are not financially prepared for retirement and face an uncertain future when they leave the workforce. Already, nearly one-third of retirees have returned to work because they have difficulty making ends meet
1. Cuts to employer-sponsored pensions, uncertainty over the future of Social Security, and Americans’ current tendency to save less and spend more have all hurt traditional sources of retirement income. In addition, inflation threatens to diminish the purchasing power of those retirees who rely on fixed incomes.
The RIIA is dedicated to providing the research and resources needed to address these and other retirement challenges. Symetra, a company with nearly 50 years of retirement income experience and a pioneer of Systematic Withdrawal Income Plans (SWIP®), continues to develop innovative retirement solutions today.
"As employers increasingly restructure retirement pensions and benefits, conventional financial planning and products may not be enough to provide the income security that future retirees will need," said Pat McCormick, senior vice president with Symetra and a member of the RIIA Membership Committee. "It is time for some fresh thinking when it comes to retirement planning, and Symetra supports the RIIA’s efforts to kick start a new era in financial services research. Our goal is to bring back the luster of the golden years for more retirees."
With over one quarter of the population approaching retirement, the RIIA believes it is time the financial services industry shifted from an emphasis on assets accumulation to an income distribution focus instead. The RIIA seeks to create a forum where different financial services industry perspectives can come together and work collectively on practical retirement solutions. The association provides such services as data collection on retirement trends, economic and public policy advocacy, communications tools, training and educational programs.
"People need to have a well-defined roadmap when it comes to retirement planning," said Francois Gadenne, founding chairman of the RIIA and president and CEO of Retirement Engineering Inc. "Going forward, this roadmap may include financial strategies and products that are very different than those many of us have become accustomed to over the years. We are pleased that Symetra supports our efforts to address the future retirement needs of our population."
About Symetra Financial
Symetra Financial is a family of companies with nearly a half-century of experience providing retirement plans, employee benefits, annuities and life insurance through independent distributors nationwide. The company has more than $20 billion in assets
2 and is owned by an investor group led by White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. For more information, visit Symetra Financial's Website at
www.symetra.com.
About the Retirement Income Industry Association
Meeting our country's retirement income challenge is the priority of the Retirement Income Industry Association (RIIA), an organization founded by a group of more than twenty companies. RIIA focuses attention on key retirement income issues and helps to solve related problems. RIIA provides members with ongoing quantitative and qualitative analyses of trends in the manufacture, distribution and usage of retirement income products and services. The association also facilitates greater understanding of retirement income issues through educational programs and training/certification. For more information, visit
www.riia-usa.org.
1 Source: "Bulletin Board," AARP Bulletin, February 2006.
2 Source: Total GAAP assets per closing statements of December 31, 2004
Symetra® and the Symetra Financial logo are registered service marks of Symetra Life Insurance Company, 777 108th Avenue NE, Suite 1200, Bellevue, WA 98004.
SWIP® is a registered trademark of Symetra Life Insurance Company.
