(NAPSA)—When it comes to retirement investing, unbiased information is invaluable. Unfortunately, it can also be difficult to find. Financial planners and brokerage firms don’t always offer truly independent advice. Both often are paid incentives by mutual fund companies to sell certain funds, and—compounding what can only be described as inherently biased recommenda- sveruPwow Q) Los wen Planning a secure retirement rp - foun PLeoue frauwave tt Joaam mice anoutoursiodns Jueam seoutyourssnecr tions—planners, in particular, may profit doubly from prearranged agreements on 12-b1 fees. Trouble finding trustworthy information may be one reason fewer workers now savefor retirement than in the past. According to the Retirement Confidence Survey 2004, which was conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), four in 10 workers aren’t currently saving for retire- ment. Even worse, due to record market downturns, those with investments have seen dramatic decreases in the size of their nest eggs. “Few Americans prepare ade- quately for the financial realities of retirement,” says Sunil Bhatia, chairman and CEO of LTSave. Bhatia’s company has become popular with investors by providing completely independent investment advice based on an investor’s personal goals and preferences. It also gives investors access to financial technologies previously only available to high-net-worth individuals. The companyis able to maintain a reputation for independent advice in part because it doesn’t sell any financial funds—thereby eliminating an all-too-common source of bias in the industry. LT [Tes uf IYou Prtacr| Sut ‘an sonsore 1 res ata detvaret by LTS, In, 3 feserllyregitanad 04 meester asa, ‘Copyrigeet 200-2004 LTaed,eights reser. @ Unbiased retirement advice is a valuable commodity. For an affordable monthlyfee, users can log on to LTSave’s Web site at www.ltsave.com, develop profiles and enter investment information. The system then performs more than 1,000 calculations using hundredsof different variables (including risk, investment strategies, and demographics). User-specific, unbiased advice about the vast mutual fund marketplace is then offered to help people devise and stick to a retirement plan. Another reason whythe service could be both crucial and timely for investors: A survey by the national research firm Financial Insights found that less than a third of 1,000 employment-age adults had changed the fund selection in their retirement plans in the last 12 months and only a quarter changed what they contributed. For more information, visit www.ltsave.com.
