Relax, have a coffee, and plan your retirement

Coffee culture inspires Sun Life Financial's My Retirement Café site

TORONTO, Nov. 9 /CNW/ - Preparing for retirement doesn't have to be stressful.  What you need is a relaxing environment, an informative resource, and access to a financial advisor.  Sun Life Financial brings this all together for Canadians with the launch of My Retirement Café (www.myretirementcafe.ca), an interactive retirement education website for consumers, offering a stress-free, no-obligation environment where you can access resources and tools to help you work towards your retirement plans.

"My Retirement Café is a revolution in retirement education," said Senior Vice-President of Individual Insurance & Investments at Sun Life Financial, Kevin Strain.  "We want to create a stress-free place where Canadians can go online, have a coffee, and think about retirement. The more you know, the easier it is to set goals and work with an advisor to create a plan that will really work for you."

When visiting My Retirement Café, consumers can comfortably educate themselves in their own home.  The unique café atmosphere provides a relaxing, thought-provoking environment where Canadians can learn about what to expect in retirement, how their expenses will change, and risks they face at this stage of life.  The website provides this information through a number of resources, including video case studies, tools, calculators, games, and quizzes.

The baby boomer generation is facing a unique set of risks in their retirement:

• Market volatility: Downturns in the market, especially around the time of retirement, can have a devastating impact on retirement savings.
• Outliving assets: Since Canadians are living longer than ever before, they are facing more years in retirement and need investment saving strategies that create retirement income to last the duration of their life.
• Health care costs: Health care costs usually increase with age, a trend that needs to be factored into retirement planning.
• Inflation: Living longer can magnify the impact of inflation on retirement income.

My Retirement Café not only provides information about these risks and what to consider, but also practical tools that paint a picture of what retirement could be.

"Preparing for retirement is not just about finances, but lifestyle as well," said Strain.  "My Retirement Café helps consumers consider all aspects of retirement, create a plan that takes all of their needs into consideration, and have a more meaningful financial discussion with their advisor."

For more information, access My Retirement Café at www.myretirementcafe.ca and review the site's resources, including:

• Video case studies that show realistic retirement concerns and the value of financial advice
• Retirement Life game
• Retirement expense, income, and inflation calculators
• My Retirement Lifestyle questionnaire, for both individuals and partners

In addition to My Retirement Café, Sun Life Financial has invested in a number of other technology-based tools, including:

• Advisor Match: provides client-advisor match suggestions based on age, gender, and language preferences.
• Life Stage Planner: helps consumers identify considerations when making financial decisions at each stage of life.
• Sun Days e-book: presents inspiring stories from Sun Life clients.

Along with the work being done around financial planning this year, Sun Life Financial received prominent recognition for its reputation, brand, and sustainability initiatives:

• Canadian Business magazine: Sun Life Financial Canada named the 12th most reputable company in the country, making Sun Life the highest-ranked financial institution in Canada.
• Reader's Digest Trusted Brand award: Sun Life Financial Canada for its Life Insurance operations.
• Ranked as one of the 2010 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World, the only life insurance company in North America on the list.

Life's brighter under the sun 

About Sun Life Financial

Sun Life Financial is a leading international financial services organization providing a diverse range of protection and wealth accumulation products and services to individuals and corporate customers. Chartered in 1865, Sun Life Financial and its partners today have operations in key markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China and Bermuda. As of September 30, 2010, the Sun Life Financial group of companies had total assets under management of $455 billion. For more information please visit www.sunlife.com.

Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF.

Note to Editors: All figures in Canadian dollars.