AXA Equitable Encourages Consumers to Overcome Retirement Planning Inertia
April 02 2007 - 5:22PM
PR Newswire (US)
Less Than Half of Americans 55+ Know How Much Income They Will Have
in Retirement NEW YORK, April 2 /PRNewswire/ -- AXA Distributors,
LLC is launching a new marketing campaign to encourage consumers to
overcome their inertia and focus on retirement planning. The
company has developed materials to facilitate the retirement
planning process that registered representatives can use to help
clients plan for their futures. To encourage reps who sell its
annuity products to initiate such conversations with their clients,
AXA Distributors is offering to buy both of them a Grande Latte or
their beverage of choice. "Hundreds of millions of dollars are
spent on financial services advertising every year but very little
of it actually provides consumers with practical information," said
Jamie Shepherdson, President of AXA Distributors and Executive Vice
President of New York-based parent company AXA Financial, Inc. "We
want to spur Americans to wake up and smell the coffee, so we're
making coffee gift cards available, which we hope will be the
impetus for reps to have crucial discussions with their clients."
Less than half of U.S. workers age 55 and up have any idea how much
income they will have in retirement, according to the annual AXA
Retirement Scope survey. Moreover, most Americans don't get around
to planning until they have missed a significant portion of their
working years: 26% of people began planning for their retirement
between the ages of 45-54, while 32% didn't start planning until
they were 55 or older. "It is important for Americans to determine
how much money they will need in retirement so they can put a
financial plan in place to work toward their goals," said Mr.
Shepherdson. "By delaying the planning process until their mid-40s,
people may find that it's too late for them to set aside enough
money to afford the lifestyle they want in their later years."
Educational Materials Help in Planning Process As part of the Wake
Up! campaign, AXA Distributors has developed materials to
facilitate the retirement planning process. Educational materials
distributed to registered reps assist consumers with their
examination of potential sources of retirement income, including
mutual funds, individual retirement accounts, pension plans, Social
Security, full-time or part-time employment, and other options. The
reps will then work with consumers to delineate the expenses they
expect to incur in retirement, from necessities such as food,
housing, and transportation, to discretionary items such as
entertainment, travel, and charitable contributions. If there is a
gap between the income and the expenses that consumers expect to
face in retirement, the rep can help them face their retirement
reality. Taking into account the consumers' retirement time
horizons, risk profiles, and personal financial goals, the reps
will discuss various financial strategies, such as turning
qualified retirement plan assets into retirement income in order to
make their assets last throughout their lifetimes. Encouragement
From the 800-Pound Gorilla The Wake Up! campaign marks the first
time that AXA Equitable Life Insurance Co. has extended its
award-winning national television advertising campaign -- centered
around the 800-pound gorilla -- to reach financial professionals
directly. AXA Distributors is the wholesale distribution company of
AXA Equitable, a member of the global AXA Group. The star of four
television spots, the gorilla is a metaphor for something that's on
everyone's mind, but nobody talks about -- saving for retirement.
For example, in one segment of the Wake Up! campaign, a woman
happily enjoys a cup of coffee. Sitting next to her, the 800-pound
gorilla reminds her, "Consider me your wake-up call. It's time to
do more than just dream about retirement." About AXA Retirement
Scope The third annual survey AXA Retirement Scope survey is part
of AXA's continued effort to enhance its understanding of the
issues, perceptions, concerns, and wishes surrounding retirement,
for the ongoing development of innovative financial and retirement
planning services. Both workers and retirees were surveyed about
their financial preparations, quality of life, and views on
retirement. Research firm GFK Sofema managed the survey globally
for the AXA Group. Local firms fielded the questions in each
country during August 2006. Nielsen Entertainment conducted the
survey by telephone in the U.S. A total of 6,915 people between 25
and 75 years old were interviewed in: Australia, Canada, China,
France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Italy, Spain, the United
Kingdom, and the United States. The main sample from the U.S.
included 840 people, 421 of whom were working and 419 were retired.
To access the entire survey conducted by AXA Equitable, go to
http://www.axaonline.com/. (Editor's note: Research statistics
should be attributed to "AXA Retirement Scope.") About AXA
Distributors AXA Distributors, LLC is the wholesale distribution
company of AXA Financial, Inc., a member of the global AXA Group.
It is dedicated to the distribution of managed investment products
and services including the innovative line of whole and variable
life insurance and fixed and variable annuities as well as products
of the AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company to professional
financial intermediaries including brokerages, banks, and
independent financial planners, as well as AXA Advisors, the retail
distribution company of AXA Financial. As of January 2007, AXA
Distributors had more than 300 employees, servicing roughly 400
partner firms and representing in excess of 17,000 individual
producers. About AXA Financial AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company
is the principal life insurance subsidiary of AXA Financial, Inc.,
providing life insurance, annuities and other needs-based products
and services for the financial services market, co- distributed by
AXA Advisors, LLC, and AXA Distributors, LLC. AXA Financial is one
of the premier U.S. organizations providing financial protection
and wealth management; it had approximately $643.4 billion in
assets under management as of December 31, 2005. All guarantees are
based on the claims- paying ability of AXA Equitable Life Insurance
Company (AXA Equitable). AXA Financial is a member of the global
AXA Group, a worldwide leader in financial protection and wealth
management. AXA Group's operations are geographically diverse, with
major operations in Western Europe, North America, and the
Asia/Pacific region. AXA Group had $1.3 trillion in assets under
management as of December 31, 2005. The AXA ordinary share is
listed on the Paris Stock Exchange and trades under the symbol AXA.
The AXA American Depositary Share is also listed on the NYSE under
the ticker symbol AXA. CONTACTS: Lisa Tibbitts 212-314-2811
Discretion Winter 212-314-2968 DATASOURCE: AXA Equitable CONTACT:
Lisa Tibbitts, +1-212-314-2811, , or Discretion Winter,
+1-212-314-2968, , both of AXA Equitable Web site:
http://www.axa.com/ http://www.axaonline.com/
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