A Mickey Mouse Approach to Financial Freedom? Survey Commissioned by Farmers Life Insurance Company Shows That Americans Are Better at Planning Vacations Than They Are at Planning for Retirement.Business & News Editors SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 18, 2003 A recent survey commissioned by Farmers Life Insurance Company shows that twice as many middle income Americans are better at planning for annual family vacations to places like Disney Dis·ney , Walter Elias Known as "Walt." 1901-1966. American animator, showman, and film producer. Noted for his creation of the cartoon characters Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, he produced the first animated film with sound, World than they are at planning for their retirement. Surprisingly, respondents In the context of marketing research, a representative sample drawn from a larger population of people from whom information is collected and used to develop or confirm marketing strategy. said they spend about the same amount of time planning for their annual vacations as they do for their retirement or a child's college education. Yet, universally, they know retirement is more important. However, retirement looms in the future as a vague and somewhat scary scar·y adj. scar·i·er, scar·i·est 1. Causing fright or alarm. 2. Easily scared; very timid. scar goal while taking a vacation is a clearly fun -- and well-defined well-de·fined adj. 1. Having definite and distinct lines or features: a well-defined silhouette. 2. -- goal, with the steps needed to get there equally apparent. Vacation Retirement Clear goal Very fuzzy goals ----------------------------- ----------------------------- Goals change as the family Static goals gets old ----------------------------- ----------------------------- Some years the vacations are Expect retirement funding to less elaborate be level or increasing ----------------------------- ----------------------------- So how can Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse Famous character of Walt Disney's animated cartoons. He was introduced in Steamboat Willie (1928), the first animated cartoon with sound. Mickey was created by Disney, who also provided his high-pitched voice, and was usually drawn by the studio's head animator, help? The survey results suggest that if people took a page out of how they plan to get to Disney World or some other fun destination each year and transferred that skill to the way they prepare for retirement, they might be better at it and have more confidence in their future. In fact, more people (55%) believe they will be able to take their next vacation as planned than believe they will be able to retire at the age desired (42%). With this finding in mind, Farmers' Life Insurance subsidiary has developed an industry-unique life stage-based system called Financial Blueprint blueprint, white-on-blue photographic print, commonly of a working drawing used during building or manufacturing. The plan is first drawn to scale on a special paper or tracing cloth through which light can penetrate. . It's like stringing a series of vacations together to get to a great retirement and protect the family along the way. The system helps people reduce financial issues to bite-sized chunks by life stage and provides detailed, actionable Giving sufficient legal grounds for a lawsuit; giving rise to a Cause of Action. An act, event, or occurrence is said to be actionable when there are legal grounds for basing a lawsuit on it. suggestions on how to address common financial situations faced by middle America Middle America 1 A region of southern North America comprising Mexico, Central America, and sometimes the West Indies. Middle American adj. & n. . These customized "blueprints" can be generated in just minutes by entering a few pieces of information into a web site. "Obviously, vacation plans vary by life stage, yet retirement plans often don't. When presented with the life stage idea, consumers embraced it. Sixty percent said they felt traditional financial approaches aren't working. It is difficult for people to see beyond their current life stage to the next one, let alone two or three life stages ahead," said Mike Keller, vice president of marketing at Farmers Life Insurance Company. "Most financial analysis or programs fail to recognize this reality. And most don't take into account all of life's constantly changing variables. Income increases over time, yet most planning systems See spreadsheet and financial planning system. don't acknowledge it. People adjust their finances, goals and desires over time based on life stage, but this is not taken into account by most systems," Keller added. "Financial Blueprint is built on the premise that similar people have similar problems, but these sets of problems change over time. The 'blueprint' provides simple yet elegant solutions to specific financial situations faced in each stage of life, and it can easily be modified as a family transitions from one life stage to another," Keller said. Farmers Insurance Group of Companies(R) is the nation's third-largest Personal Lines Property & Casualty insurance group. Headquartered in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. and doing business in 41 states, the insurers comprising the Farmers Insurance Group of Companies provide Homeowners, Auto, Business, Life insurance and financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. to more than 10 million households through 17,000 exclusive and independent agents and district managers. For more information about Farmers, visit our Web site at www.farmers.com. This is Farmers' 75th year serving America's families and businesses. |
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