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Jean Chatzky talks to employees about retirement planning on Manulife USA Webcast Boston – Coinciding with President Bush’s National Retirement Planning Week, participants in employer-sponsored retirement plans from across the country tuned in to watch and ask questions of one of America’s most renowned financial commentators in a live hour-long Webcast on November 19. Jean Chatzky, Money magazine editor-at-large and NBC’s Today finance editor, joined Jackie DiGiovanni, Executive Vice President of Marketing & Communications for Group Pensions at Manulife USA, to discuss how investors can take charge of their financial futures. The Webcast was the third in a series featuring well-known financial commentators. “With these Webcasts, we strive to provide our nearly one million retirement plan participants with the tools and resources they need to make informed financial decisions for retirement,” said Kendall Kay, Chief Strategy Officer and spokesperson for Manulife USA’s Group Pension division. “With the nation’s focus this week on retirement planning, this was a great time for us to hold this Webcast, which allowed us to give our participants useful information from a highly credible source that will make them feel more comfortable about planning for retirement. Doing so in a convenient and easy-to-access medium like the Internet is a good way for us to get this message out.” Having “clear financial goals, sticking to them and being able to roll with the financial punches” was the overriding message of Ms. Chatzky’s opening remarks. Prior to the forty-minute question and answer period, Ms. Chatzky emphasized the importance of diversification and encouraged plan participants to think about what they want for their financial futures and then “invest towards meeting those goals” in order to make the savings process more tangible. Ms. Chatzky stressed that rebalancing a financial portfolio twice a year and monitoring its progress is critical to the financial planning process. She suggested that in order to better understand how much money an individual spends -- and therefore, how much he or she can save -- participants should track their expenses for a month. “By categorizing expenses, (investors) will have a better understanding of how much they can save,” said Ms. Chatzky. In the Webcast, Ms. Chatzky also addressed topics such as personal debt and fear of the unknown in the market. Throughout her talk, she stressed the importance of focusing on a long-term strategy and “investing automatically in (one’s) future,” be it through a 401(k) plan or through another type of pre-selected investment. Questions were wide-ranging, from “Should I contribute to my 401(k) plan or pay off credit card debt?” to “How do I save for retirement if I’m living paycheck to paycheck?” Manulife USA has made the Jean Chatzky Webcast available for on-demand viewing at www.manulife.com/usa, along with others in the series. About Manulife The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) (Manulife USA) is committed to offering the highest quality annuity, life insurance, pension, tax-deferred college savings, and separately managed account products to its clients. Its family of products has been built around a powerful combination of investment options chosen with the goal of providing attractive risk-adjusted returns and broad diversification across asset classes, investment styles, and asset managers. With its extensive product lines, competitive underwriting, excellent ratings, and quality customer service, Manulife USA is dedicated to providing quality products designed to help create and preserve wealth for its clients. Group annuity contracts are issued by Manulife USA. Product features and availability may differ by state. In New York, products are issued by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company of New York (Manulife New York). Manulife Financial is a leading Canadian-based financial services group operating in 15 countries and territories worldwide. Through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners, Manulife Financial offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services. Funds under management by Manulife Financial were US$87.8 billion (Cdn$139.2 billion) as at September 30, 2002. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as ‘MFC’ on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under ‘0945’ on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at www.manulife.com. -30- Wendy W. Smith U.S. Communications 617-854-4348 wendy_smith@manulife.com |
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