Las Vegas (May 6, 2004) — Despite owning some 79 percent of the financial assets in the U.S., many Baby Boomers in the 50-and-over age bracket do not have enough retirement income, said several Terra Securities planning specialists at the group’s national convention here.
“There are a lot of reasons for this,” said Brenda Bellevue, a senior planning specialist for the company formerly known as GE Independent Accountants Network. “First, 401(k) plans were not available when many of them started investing. Then, in the boom of the 1990s, many of them invested heavily and wound up under water.”
Bellevue said the retirement model used to be the three-legged stool — Social Security, corporate retirement plans and individual savings.
“The fourth leg is the earnings after retirement,” she said.
“It used to be people would say ‘I need million dollars to retire.’ Now, there’s more of an emphasis on income needs and what a client needs to pay the bills as opposed to a lump sum. People realize that they cannot live on Social Security alone.”
She also pointed out that the Gen X and even the Gen Y demographics have begun investing aggressively.
The session also served to highlight the recently launched GE Retirement Answer— a variable annuity product with a guaranteed income stream.
Said Bellevue, “You need to give your clients an annual financial ‘physical.’ You have to help them see the big picture and have them focus on what they want and where they need to be.”
— Bill Carlino
