Bankrate Releases 2010 Retirement Guide

Bankrate's 2010 Retirement Guide takes a look at the landscape and how consumers can make the most out of saving for retirement

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Bankrate, Inc.

Mar 09, 2010, 08:00 ET

NEW YORK, March 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- As the unemployment rate begins to fall and many Americans find their way back to jobs, it's important to think about retirement options as soon as it's financially feasible. To provide a roadmap on what to expect, Bankrate.com presents its 2010 Retirement Guide. This year's guide helps consumers at all stages of retirement planning, whether they're just getting started in their careers or their retirement is imminent. The full guide can be viewed here:

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/retirement/2010-retirement-guide.aspx.

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The 2010 Retirement Guide features four sections full of tips and relevant resources, including:

Part I – Conquering Your Workplace Retirement Plans: Bankrate's experts provide data and resources on how employees can maximize their benefits, beginning with three steps to building retirement savings and what to know about target-date funds. The section also includes stories on hot trends in retirement plans that give readers a glimpse of future regulatory moves that will benefit them, and a story on buy-and-hold vs. active management theories that provides compelling arguments about both strategies;
Part II – All about IRAs: This section explores the benefits of Roth conversions, and includes a special story on Roth conversion investment strategies as well as help for readers to decide what to do with their 401(k) plans after they leave their employer. And for those experiencing special hardships, experts explain the IRS-sanctioned reasons for penalty-free withdrawals from retirement accounts;
Part III – Making Successful Retirement Decisions: For those approaching retirement, this section can help with the tough decisions, including whether to take a lump sum or an annuity. The section also includes income alternatives for retirees and a roundup of new and upcoming retirement income products designed to keep consumers' retirement income stream strong;
Part IV – Tools and Resources: Bankrate provides videos on when a Roth conversion makes sense, the pitfalls of retirement debt, and how to build up your savings in addition to several 401(k) and conversion calculators, retirement planning checklists, budgets, and more.

"The key to a successful retirement is both investing early and wisely," said Julie Bandy, editor in chief at Bankrate.com. "Bankrate's Retirement Guide provides important information that consumers need to make smart decisions with their retirement investments as well as how to continue to manage their money after retiring."

About Bankrate, Inc.

The Bankrate network of companies includes Bankrate.com, Interest.com, Mortgage-calc.com, Nationwide Card Services, Savingforcollege.com, Fee Disclosure, InsureMe CreditCardGuide.com and Bankaholic. Each of these businesses helps consumers to make informed decisions about their personal finance matters. The company's flagship brand, Bankrate.com is a destination site of personal finance channels, including banking, investing, taxes, debt management and college finance. Bankrate.com is the leading aggregator of rates and other information on more than 300 financial products, including mortgages, credit cards, new and used auto loans, money market accounts and CDs, checking and ATM fees, home equity loans and online banking fees. Bankrate.com reviews more than 4,800 financial institutions in 575 markets in 50 states. In 2008, Bankrate.com had nearly 72 million unique visitors. Bankrate.com provides financial applications and information to a network of more than 75 partners, including Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO), America Online (NYSE: AOL), The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times (NYSE: NYT). Bankrate.com's information is also distributed through more than 500 newspapers. Bankrate, Inc. was acquired by Apax Partners, one of the world's leading private equity investment group, in September 2009. Apax operates across the United States, Europe and Asia and has more than 30 years of investing experience. For more information on Apax, visit: www.Apax.com.