Insured Retirement Institute Planning Week 2019 Dates Announced

WASHINGTON, Nov. 28 -- The Insured Retirement Institute issued the following news release:

The Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) announced today that National Retirement Planning Week will be held April 8-12, 2019. The week is a coordinated effort led by IRI to educate consumers on the importance of appropriately planning for a financially secure retirement.

During National Retirement Planning Week, IRI leads an effort to encourage the retirement security industry to communicate with policymakers, consumers and media about resources and information that can be used for retirement planning.

"Fewer and fewer American workers have access to an employer-provided pension that provides lifetime monthly income in retirement," said Cathy Weatherford, IRI President and CEO. "Today, employers most likely offer defined contribution plans where workers contribute a portion of their pre-tax wages to a retirement account that they own. Some employers may choose to match some of those employee contributions. But in the end, workers are largely funding their own retirements through savings."

IRI is the leading retirement security advocate and promotes several policies that can increase worker access to employer-provided retirement plans; improve current defined contribution retirement plans and; allow employer-provided retirement plans to access products that can provide guaranteed lifetime income to retirees.

"We must continually educate consumers on the importance of early planning for retirement to build up sufficient savings to last throughout their retirement years," Weatherford said. "With life expectancy increasing, retirement for many people is lasting longer and requiring smart planning to ensure that income needs are met including those for health care and the potential for long term care."

IRI strongly recommends that consumers consult a financial advisor to assist with retirement planning. More than six out of ten of retirees who use a financial advisor believe that they would be financially worse off without one, according to recent IRI research.

"Retirement planning takes more than one week per year but for our industry, National Retirement Planning Week is an opportunity to really focus our educational efforts and encourage consumers to begin their journey to a financially secure retirement,' Weatherford said.