Where are you on the road to retirement?

Securian Financial Group (Securian) has developed a Retirement GPS tool for its website that walks pre-retirees, as well as retirees, through a planning process that delineates the various stages of retirement and explains issues that can arise along the way. Namely:

• Longevity risk;
• Replacement ratio;
• Sequence of returns risk;
• Social Security; and
• Inflation risk.

The National Retirement Planning Coalition, of which Securian is a member, has also developed a website, Retire On Your Terms which offers income planning tips to illustrate what  individuals have to do in order to achieve the type of retirement they desire.

The next few years will be a seminal time for the industry as 79 million baby boomers entering retirement face challenges many previous generations, of smaller sizes, did not have to face including:

• Reduced employee benefits;
• Longer life spans;
• An uncertain social security environment; and
• Rising health care costs.

“For baby boomers, retirement income planning is essential because the stakes are high. Some of them could live 30 years or more in retirement,” said Kerry Geurkink, manager, Annuity Distribution Marketing for Securian Retirement Distributors.