By Katie Logisz
June 27, 2005

"Life comes at you fast and you have to plan," was the message that Conference Platinum Member Nationwide Retirement Solutions (NRS) brought to the 73rd Annual Meeting in Chicago. Linda Barber, NRS Vice President for Strategic Relationships, addressed mayors noting that planning and preparation are pivotal in assuring that employees will be able to realize retirement goals and dreams.

During its 26-year partnership with the Conference of Mayors, NRS has sought to educate municipal employees about financial planning for their retirement. The USCM/NRS deferred compensation program is at work in 4,000 cities and towns, assisting over 300,000 public employees. This program has provided retirement planning products and education services that assist public employees with understanding their retirement needs and how to meet those needs.

Reinforcing the theme of planning because "life comes at you fast," NRS shared a video presentation with mayors highlighting television commercials from Nationwide's marketing campaign. Four commercials aired, each depicting sudden changes for the commercial's characters. In one commercial, a butterfly landing on a car set off an alarm which begins a serious of actions that damage a homeowner's property. Another showed a once chart-topping performing artist facing bankruptcy. The central message in this campaign is that life changes quickly and adequate planning can help to alleviate any issues that might arise through change. NRS can help public employees to plan for their retirement years so that any twists or turns along the way will not result in losing the plans and goals that an employee has made for retirement.

For more information on how NRS can help your city's employees plan for retirement, contact Katie Logisz with the Conference of Mayors at 202-861-6739 or send email to klogisz@usmayors.org or contact Kathryn Kretschmer-Weyland with the Conference at 301-460-5251 or send email to kweyland@usmayors.org.