The video, which features Jamie Shepherdson, president of Retirement Savings for AXA Equitable and chair of the IRI, highlights the new retirement reality, including lessons learned from the economic meltdown and the role financial professionals will play in restoring consumer confidence.

“National Retirement Planning Week recognizes the importance of planning for your financial future,” said Mr. Shepherdson. “AXA Equitable strongly supports this week of education and awareness, especially in the wake of the financial crisis. We feel it also validates the need for consumers and financial professionals to stay connected in regular dialogue through the different life stages that make up retirement.”

For access to the video, please visit The Source, AXA Equitable’s multi-media Web site that provides information and thought leadership on a wide array of financial protection and retirement planning topics.

In business since 1859, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company (NY, NY) is a leading financial protection company and one of the nation’s premier providers of life insurance and annuity products, as well as investment products and services through its affiliates, including, AXA Advisors, LLC. The company’s products and services are distributed to individuals and business owners through its retail distribution channel, AXA Advisors; to the financial services market through its wholesale distribution channel, AXA Distributors, LLC.

AXA Equitable, a subsidiary of AXA Financial Inc., is part of the global AXA Group, a worldwide leader in financial protection strategies and wealth management. “AXA Group” refers to AXA, a French holding company for an international group of insurance and financial services companies together with its direct and indirect consolidated subsidiaries. For more information, visit www.axa-equitable.com.

AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company, pioneer of the guaranteed minimum income benefit, is now launching Retirement Cornerstone(SM), a variable annuity with a dual-account investment platform expected to transform how investors will view the uses and benefits of variable annuities.

“Last year’s market meltdown was a stark reminder of how vulnerable individuals’ investment portfolios can be,” said Christopher M. “Kip” Condron, chairman and chief executive officer of AXA Equitable. “We believe that Retirement Cornerstone represents a unique response to that sense of vulnerability. It can offer an easy way for investors to put cash back to work and take advantage of what they see as the best growth opportunities, as well as providing downside protection for retirement income.”

Retirement Cornerstone is a tax-deferred investment platform that, unlike a traditional annuity, supports two interactive but distinct accounts – one focused on the opportunity to maximize investment performance through some of the most well-respected money managers, the other, an optional account focused on providing innovative retirement protection.

Long-Term Accumulation Account Objective:

Access the growth potential in more than 90 investment portfolio choices across a broad spectrum of asset classes and investment styles. Most of the actively managed investment portfolios carry top Morningstar Ratings™ of four or five stars. This account features some of the most well-respected professional money managers delivered in a tax-deferred structure that may become increasingly valuable if, as many expect, tax rates rise.

Downside-Protection Account Objective:

Provide a guaranteed income benefit option that invests in asset allocation and index portfolios. Perhaps most important, to help anticipate and protect against the impact of rising interest rates, the Retirement Cornerstone has a new “roll-up” rate declared annually at one point above an average of the 10-year Treasury rate (the initial rate is 5 percent and can adjust to a maximum of 8% and never below 4%). This unique roll-up rate is the annual percentage increase to the benefit base, which is used to calculate a guaranteed minimum income (or withdrawal amount). This innovation, which allows the income benefit to rise in a rising interest rate scenario, sets Retirement Cornerstone apart from the competition.

These tax-deferred complementary accounts in Retirement Cornerstone offer a level of flexibility and efficiency not typical in a variable annuity. This dual-account platform:

Provides an opportunity for investors to pursue more aggressive investment recovery strategies, while retaining the option of when to optimize the unique guarantee features offered by Retirement Cornerstone;

Provides access to a professionally managed platform that gives the investor tax control, by providing for tax-free transfers among investment portfolios;

Allows the investor to sweep cash tax-free from the long-term accumulation account to the downside income protection account to efficiently build lifetime income benefits and respond to changing needs and economic conditions;

Provides access to the accounts, as well as lifetime income benefits, that lets investors adjust income streams to meet life events and emergencies.

“The extreme volatility of the recent past drove many investors into overly conservative positions at the worst possible moment,” Mr. Condron said. “The unique value of Retirement Cornerstone is the simple way it can give people the confidence they need to once again invest for growth, but without giving up the comfort of having a reliable guarantee – all on one platform.”

“We’ve consistently succeeded for more than 150 years by leading the market in innovations like Retirement Cornerstone, and doing so through sustainable, prudent risk management,” Mr. Condron said. “The cornerstone of any great building is the architectural basis of its structural integrity, strength and durability – qualities that only a financially stable insurer can offer.”

More and more retirees and would-be retirees are managing and/or funding their own retirement programs either by choice or by necessity. They don’t have the luxury of letting someone else do their retirement planning for them. This is whywww.BuyaPension.com was created as a new way of selling annuities and retirement planning.

Today’s consumers need an understanding of the benefits and drawbacks to different types of annuity programs, so that they can design retirement programs that will work for them, not just for their insurance companies and/or the agents who sells them the policy. They need the right information and guidance in order to make the right decisions.”

This is why BuyaPension.com is proud to announce the release of its revolutionary new tool, an interactive guide to the annuity process.

“Traditionally, annuity contracts have been confusing to the general public.” say BuyaPension.com’s founders. “Most people are not really clear on what terms like Life Annuity, Fixed Annuity, Supplemental Income and Retirement Annuity really mean, let alone what terms and conditions are involved. BuyaPension.com wants to change all that.”

Using BuyaPension.com’s interactive guide to annuities, potential retirees and other consumers can now clearly see the benefits offered by each type of annuity contract and decide what type of annuity will be best for their retirement needs. With this amazing new tool, consumers and retirees can ask questions, explore options and they will be able to intelligently plan and structure their retirement income to suit their individual needs.

Now, such important concepts as Annuity Contracts, Life Annuity, Fixed Annuity, Supplemental Income and Retirement Annuity will be more than just obscure industry jargon. Consumers will now be able to clearly understand these terms in relation to the different retirement options and benefits that each one offers.

Buyapension.com was formed in 2008 as an annuity company to serve the ever-expanding retirement income needs of Baby Boomers and their parents. Planning for income in retirement presents many challenges and investment products are often complex, therefore, it is our goal to provide simple solutions and explain these solutions to our clients in a straightforward, understandable fashion.

There is never a better time to prepare for the future than the present. Living a vital and energetic second half is as important as just starting out in life. Finding a network geared to a community who believe this is true is the right start to getting the help to make it all happen.

One of the most recent tools for those baby boomers approaching retirement age is a network that makes it easy to plan for retirement. The Baby Boomers Retirement Network brings the latest in health news, travel tips and financial security as simple as a click of the mouse.

Looking ahead to a brighter future can be difficult. However, using the resources available can make goals for retirement achievable. Estate planning, college saving plans, learning to maximize earnings and generate retirement income are just a few of features the Baby Boomers Retirement Network brings to members to ensure a higher quality of living during the golden years.

There are many options for individuals while planning for their retirement years and a network can provide useful information all on the issues facing this very important time of life. The most exciting years can be experienced during retirement, and having a clear guide to matching finances to a desired lifestyle makes all the planning worth it.

“Using a network specifically designed for the baby boomer generation can make all the difference when planning for retirement,” said Richard Roll, CEO of Baby Boomers Retirement Network. “Our health programs, on-line forums and financial check-ups are just some of valuable aids we bring to baby boomers looking to better their physical and financial futures.”

A healthy and secure lifestyle requires planning for money, investments and savings as well as keeping up with nutrition and exercise. It’s never too late for dreams to come true and planning for an active and financially secure retirement can help to ensure the best is yet to come.

If you would like more information on baby boomers retirement planning or Baby boomers Retirement Network, please visit http://www.BoomersRetirementNetwork.com.

The Baby Boomers Retirement Network brings the latest in retirement planning, retirement investing and financial security to your fingertips. Plan for retirement early with the Baby Boomers Retirement Network and help ensure the best is yet to come.

The available literature on retirement planning, which focuses mostly on money and medical concerns, doesn’t cover the full range of issues someone approaching retirement should consider, she says. So she hatched the idea of creating a course that helps people address the pressing question “What am I going to do with the rest of my life?”

As result, CEW recently launched “Planning for Retirement: Exploring Your Career and Leisure Options,” an online, independent-study course using the university’s website. According to the stereotypical view, retirement involves ceasing to work and going off, for example, to travel and visit the grandkids. Today, however, baby boomers reaching that stage in their lives have more options, Ettinger says. And they don’t necessarily stop working.

“People are appreciating the fact that careers go on, sometimes until the very end of their lives,” she says. As she approached retirement, Ettinger says, “I thought about working in a whole new field, but realized I would be happiest taking the parts I loved of the job that I was already doing and focusing on those aspects.” While she continues to work at CEW, she adds, “I’m working differently now.”

Ettinger, who has designed and taught career-related courses that are delivered online, created a retirement-planning course that can assist individuals regardless of what type of work they do or where they reside. She says the program is best suited for individuals who are interested in self-study and reflection and are sufficiently comfortable working online.

The structured program, with a series of 18 units, guides individuals through the retirement-planning process and helps them address such issues as:
• How much should you work, or should you work at all?
• What are your interests, values, and skills? Which of these do you want to pursue?
• Do you want to do something different from what you’ve done before? Do more of what you’ve already done? Work in the same field in a different way?
• How will you go about networking, transitioning, and re-balancing?

Course topics include exploring your personality characteristics, work values and skills, decision-making style, marketing yourself, considering external factors and accessing alternative sources of career information. The program includes two personal career-counseling sessions, by phone or in person, with a qualified career facilitator.

“The key is how people take what they love into the future,” Ettinger says. “How do you leave what you’ve been doing and find something that’s equally as satisfying or even more so?”

Participants may join the course at any time, and will have six months to finish. During the pilot study in developing the course, Ettinger found that participants varied in their needs for engagement and guidance, so the course is designed to be flexible. Each registrant is assigned to an instructor, who responds to assignments and online postings. The Discussion Board on the https://learnuw.wisc.edu/ site provides an online place to interact with the instructor and other participants. Participants also may communicate privately with the instructor via email.

Those who complete the course will be able to continue exchanging thoughts and experiences through an alumni discussion group or blog. Ettinger hopes that each person who takes the course ultimately discovers that kernel of self-information that proves invaluable heading into this phase of life.