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The Hartford Launches New Educational Program for Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plans

^{Published on 2010-10-18 06:30:33 - Market Wire}
 

SIMSBURY, Conn.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., (NYSE: HIG), as part of its efforts to mark National Save for Retirement Week, today launched a new educational program to encourage participation in defined contribution retirement plans such as 401(k)s. The program provides a wide range of tools to fit different learning styles and a personalized salary deferral illustration tool to help participants understand the value of saving over the long term.

"The Hartford has demonstrated its commitment to this mission over the past few years through its award-winning communications campaigns. Wea™ve retained the most compelling, most effective components of our educational program and added some new, exciting initiatives that plan sponsors as well as plan participants are sure to appreciate."

The aYour Retirement. Plan for Lifea program and its educational tools are being made available to more than 1.5 million retirement plan participants through more than 32,000 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plan sponsors with a total of $43.8 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2010. The program is also available to all new retirement plan sponsors and participants who sign up with The Hartford.

aThe Hartforda™s research¹ shows that nearly four in five people (79.3 percent) are less than confident that all of their sources for retirement income will be adequate to maintain their standard of living in retirement,a said Dana McCullough, assistant vice president of marketing for The Hartforda™s Retirement Plans Group. aAmericans know they need to save more for retirement. The Hartforda™s new educational program is designed to meet them where they live and show them how to make the most of their savings opportunities.a

The educational program is being launched as part of a broader campaign to celebrate National Save for Retirement Week Oct. 17-23. Designed to boost participation and encourage higher contribution rates, the new program includes a wide range of educational topics delivered in print, in person and online. The Hartford is taking a multifaceted, multimedia approach to education, McCullough explained, because not everyone learns the same way, nor is every organization the same.

aWe believe that success hinges in large part on defining your goals, implementing a plan to meet them, and periodically revisiting and tweaking the plan based on new information,a McCullough said. aThis philosophy applies both to employees and their employers who offer a retirement plan.a

To that end, The Hartford can assist employers in creating an annual education-communications plan to target different employee audiences based on demographics such as age, plan participation status or life cycle. The educational program can be delivered in multiple locations through multiple media, no matter the number of employees or how many assets the plan has, and at the end of each year, results can be measured against established objectives.

A more personalized approach is available through The Hartforda™s 70 retirement education consultants, who conduct on-site seminars around the country and, where available, work with plan participants individually. The educational efforts are typically orchestrated in concert with financial advisors who can exert the biggest influence on participation within the plan, according to McCullough. She pointed out that personalization makes the educational program more relevant for employees and as a result helps them become more confident about the decisions they make.

One such personalized tool, called the deferral illustrator, is available to help retirement plan participants and non-participants determine how much of their income to defer. The tool illustrates the effect of different salary deferral percentages on a participanta™s take-home pay, taxes, and potential for long-term retirement savings. The illustrator also indicates the cost of waiting even a single year to begin contributing to the plan, in terms of lost savings potential.

As part of the broader program, employers can make fundamental investment education available to their employees, including a risk tolerance questionnaire and an asset allocation overview, as well as Brainshark presentations, articles and calculators. Also available are special initiatives to target specific groups of employees:

• Younger workers ages 18-29 who are less likely to participate in a retirement plan
• Older workers who are age 50 or older who are eligible to increase their retirement plan contributions as they step up their preparations for retirement
• Existing plan participants of all ages who can increase their contributions or consider rebalancing their investment portfolios

aThe educational process of helping employees understand the importance of retirement savings never stops,a McCullough said. aThe Hartford has demonstrated its commitment to this mission over the past few years through its award-winning communications campaigns. Wea™ve retained the most compelling, most effective components of our educational program and added some new, exciting initiatives that plan sponsors as well as plan participants are sure to appreciate.

aReaching retirement has never been harder but everyone has an opportunity to get there if they take advantage of the tools that are available,a McCullough said. aThe Hartforda™s new educational program starts the retirement planning process and strives to put everyone on the right path.a

About The Hartford

Celebrating 200 years of helping its customers achieve whata™s ahead, The Hartford (NYSE: HIG) is an insurance and wealth management company. Through its unique focus on customer needs, the company serves businesses and consumers by providing the products and solutions they need to protect their assets and income from risks and manage their wealth and retirement needs. A Fortune 100 company, The Hartford is recognized widely for its service expertise and as one of the worlda™s most ethical companies. More information on the company and its financial performance is available at [ www.thehartford.com ].

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¹The Hartforda™s 2009 Investments & Retirement Study

Some of the statements in this release may be considered forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We caution investors that these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ materially. Investors should consider the important risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ. These important risks and uncertainties include those discussed in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, our 2009 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We assume no obligation to update this release, which speaks as of the date issued.