The Principal Financial Group Refocuses Participant Magazine to Align with Life Stage
DES MOINES, IA, October 18, 2004 -- In order to be successful in their quest for long-term savings, investors today need retirement planning information that is easy to understand, personalized and tailored to life stage - rather than a one-size-fits-all approach to educating the masses. Based on insights gained from extensive research with retirement plan participants, the Principal Financial Group®, the nation's 401k leader and total retirement solutions innovator, has re-introduced Plan Ahead Get Ahead® magazine with a fresh focus and more contemporary design. The quarterly, award-winning magazine, which The Principal® debuted in 1999, is one of the largest run publications of its kind, distributed to 1.6 million retirement plan participants.
Plan Ahead Get Ahead today focuses on more compelling and actionable stories that highlight real-life savers. Re-launched in October, the magazine also benefits the employers who sponsor retirement plans for their employees.
"By providing participants with the tools they need to become successful savers, the new Plan Ahead Get Ahead magazine will more directly impact participant contributions and at the same time, will help plan sponsors fulfill some of their educational fiduciary responsibilities," said Monica Kirgan, vice president, retirement and investor services at The Principal.
Plan Ahead Get Ahead features easy-to-implement financial fixes, eye-catching graphics and illustrations and a positive, reassuring tone that underscores the importance of retirement saving. Kirgan says two different versions of the magazine will be produced to better pinpoint participants at their specific phases of life. One version reflects the specific needs and interests of participants over age 50, who are transitioning from saving to managing income in retirement; while the second version is targeted at the different perspectives of participants under age 50, who are in heavy spending years while also trying to save for the future.
Printed communication materials like Plan Ahead Get Ahead are among the most successful ways to educate plan participants, according to the 2004 EBRI Retirement Confidence Survey, Kirgan says. The EBRI study found that despite the amount of information available on the Internet, employees are more likely to use "high-touch, low-tech" methods such as printed materials for information rather than going online or using financial planning software.
About the Principal Financial Group
The Principal Financial Group® (The Principal ®) is a leader in offering businesses, individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services, including retirement and investment services, life and health insurance and banking through its diverse family of financial services companies. A member of the Fortune 500, the Principal Financial Group has $152.1 billion in assets under management and serves some 14.6 million customers worldwide from offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the United States. Principal Financial Group, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PFG. For more information, visit www.principal.com.
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