WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va., April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- With only 49
percent of full-time working women -- and an even lower, 39 percent of young
adults -- participating in employer-sponsored savings programs, The Bond
Market Foundation today launched Tomorrow's Money, a Web site that encourages
individuals to take charge of planning for their economic independence.
Additionally, according to data compiled by the Pension and Welfare
Benefits Administration of The U.S. Department of Labor, only 44 percent of
all private wage and salary workers participate in employer pension plans.
http://www.TomorrowsMoney.org is an interactive, educational Web site that
specifically targets women and young adults, providing a step-by-step guide to
help novices gain the knowledge and confidence they need to begin developing
their own individual savings and investing programs.
"We felt that the overall level of knowledge and sophistication among the
general public about investing was pretty low, that's especially true about
the importance of asset allocation," said Michael McCarthy, Foundation
chairman, on why the site was developed.
The site's goal is to empower people, helping them to develop a sense of
comfort and confidence so that they can handle their own investments. In
order to do this, the site has interactive features which tailors information
to an individual's situation and offers various lifestyle and investment
profiles, providing examples of women with various financial goals based on
their ages and circumstances. It also focuses on young adults, single or
married, who are new to saving and investing or may be struggling with debt.
"Tomorrow's Money is about giving people the tools they need to get
started," said Heather L. Ruth, president and chief executive officer of The
Bond Market Association. "We want to persuade people that they are not alone,
that they can save and make investment decisions, and show them, using the
interactive features on our site, how to do it."
The site also helps debunk certain common "excuses" for not investing. It
offers strategies for people who believe they don't have enough money to
invest, believe they are starting to invest too early or too late in their
lives, do not believe they have enough time to figure out how to invest, or
who believe they should only be invested in stocks.
"Knowledge is the best protection to ensure that your financial future is
secure," said Micah S. Green, Association chief operating officer and
president-designate. "Tomorrow's Money Web site will give individuals the
tools they need to educate themselves on saving and investing."
Based on users' selections, the site directs them to case studies
containing useful information tailored to their goals.
Calculators on the site can be used to help design a budget or savings
plan to determine college or retirement funding needs, and to allocate
investments among asset types.
Extensive market research, including focus groups and expertise provided
by Association members who serve individual investors, preceded the site's
development and helped identify its highest-priority target audiences.
"Young people and women generally have different opportunities to acquire
the knowledge, skills, motivation and confidence to build a savings and
investment plan and stick with it," said Kathryn Edmundson, the Foundation's
executive director. "But our research tells us that they have two things in
common: First, they all feel incredibly pressed for time and therefore need
to master knowledge in manageable chunks. Second, most of them feel more
comfortable obtaining this kind of help from a nonprofit organization before
going out into the marketplace. Therefore, being a dot org, rather than a dot
com, is important."
"Tomorrow's Money really is a training site for people who are intimidated
by the thought of investing," added Edmundson, who also served as an advisor
during the development of the site. "We're trying to help the people the
industry will one day serve."
The site was developed by Bixler Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based firm that
specializes in creating educational and bilingual Web sites for nonprofit
organizations.
The creation of the site fits in with the mission of The Bond Market
Foundation in seeking to broaden public understanding of and provide quality
investor education about the bond markets. The Foundation is the nonprofit,
charitable partner of The Bond Market Association.
The Foundation was launched with its new name in 1999 from founding
contributions by Bear, Stearns & Co., the Dain Rauscher Foundation, Goldman,
Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and an anonymous industry donor, as well as from the
Association's Annual Awards Dinners.
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SOURCE The Bond Market Foundation
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Related links:
http://www.bondmarkets
http://www.TomorrowsMoney.org
CONTACT:
Michael Dorfsman 212-440-9426, or Myra L.
Dandridge, 212-440-9443, both of the Bond Market Foundation
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