Deals & People January 26, 2010

VALIC Selected as 403(b) Provider by University of Alabama System

VALIC has been selected by the University of Alabama System (UAS) as a 403(b) plan provider for its more than 19,000 faculty and staff members.
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A VALIC announcement said UAS selected VALIC to be added to its existing plan as its second plan provider. VALIC will provide UAS access to its open-architecture mutual fund platform and will provide onsite service from professional financial advisers, who will work with UAS plan participants on a wide range of retirement and financial planning issues.

Plan administrators and participants will also gain access to Retirement Manager, VALIC’s vendor-neutral solution for managing multiple retirement plans and multiple vendors, according to the announcement. It provides plan sponsors with a variety of administrative and compliance services while offering plan participants a single point-of-access to comprehensive retirement plan information, financial planning tools, and transaction capabilities across retirement products and carriers.

The University of Alabama System represents Alabama’s oldest and largest higher education enterprise and includes three doctoral research universities: The University of Alabama (UA), the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), and the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH).

Data & Research January 26, 2010

Americans Say Fiscal Fitness Harder to Attain than Physical Fitness

A recent survey for Union Bank found 90% of Americans agree that financial stress can affect one's health.
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Even more women (91%) and older adults (92% of those 45 and older) link stress to concerns over money; however, 60% of those surveyed might not be taking the necessary steps to improve financial fitness, according to a press release.

Sixty-three percent of Americans said it is harder today to get financially fit than it is to get physically fit. The majority (61%) indicated they don’t believe they have enough money saved in the right kind of savings account to weather a financial storm during 2010.

Another six-in-10 said that if they had extra money, they would save it, but they lack extra funds to save at the end of the month.

“These responses indicate that a significant number of Americans may be in debt, without a clear plan to solve their financial problems,” said Union Bank Executive Vice President Pierre Habis, in the release. “Ensuring fiscal fitness can be every bit as difficult as getting back into good physical shape after a long period of inactivity, and while many Americans may spend time and energy accumulating wealth, many spend little time developing a sufficient plan to offset risks they might face along the way.”

Findings from the study, conducted online in December by Harris Interactive, also reveal differing opinions among U.S. adults according to their age about what is more important for 2010: fiscal fitness or physical fitness. While roughly 55% of those 18 to 34 rate financial fitness a higher priority in 2010, the majority of older Americans (70% of those 55 and older) rate physical fitness as a priority.

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