Financial Advisors: Economic Downturn Hitting Boomers Hardest

PARK RIDGE, Ill., March 6, 2009 — Key Messages:

* In comprehensive new research of financial services professionals, 77 percent of respondents indicated the current economic downturn has had a significantly greater impact on their Boomer generation clients than any other generation.
* More positively, 73 percent of respondents said the downturn has made their Boomer clients more focused on financial planning (also more than any other generation).
* Boomers have neglected planning because they don’t fully understand the value and they are embarrassed that they haven’t accumulated more assets and thus ignore the problem.
* Advisors who consider themselves “experts” at financial and retirement planning and take a comprehensive look at their clients’ financial, family and life goals appear to better serve their clients and to be more successful in their own business than those who don’t focus on either type of planning.
* The research was unveiled at a series of Boomertirement® Road Shows, half-day seminars for financial advisors in Dallas, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City, hosted by the Partnership for Retirement Education and Planning (PREP) to provide tools and encouragement for professionals assisting Boomers.