By John C. Drachman

To Braden Hill successful pre-retirement planning shouldn’t depend on a person’s political viewpoint.

Advisor Braden Hill Stands Up for Pre-Retirees

“Still, the average person should know what Congress is contem-plating,” he said, “to see how it might change you and your children’s savings and spending habits.”

Mr. Hill, the principal of Pinnacle Hills Financial Services, LLC, pointed recently to the testimony of Teresa Ghilarducci, the New School of Social Research professor who told a congressional committee in 2008 “that it’s time to reinvent the 401(k).” Ms. Ghilarducci advocated for a government-guaranteed alternative consisting of blue-chip stocks and corporate and Treasury bonds.

“The 401(k) is a failure,” Ms. Ghilarducci had said, ”I want to spend our nation’s dollars for better retirement.”

That comment put other ideas in circulation, including one from Representative John Boehner, Ohio, who recently suggested raising the retirement age to 70 for people at least 20 years from retirement.

“Retirement shortfalls don’t care who you voted for,” Mr. Hill said, “That’s why I want to raise our collective consciousness about ‘pre-retirement planning.’”

“Whether you are a liberal, conservative or moderate, planning for retirement is just plain getting harder,” the Rogers, Arkansas advisor added.

To make the case for better pre-retirement planning, Mr. Hill contracted recently with the Advisolocity social media agency to assist him in building out his thought leadership initiative.

To that end, Advisolocity will develop a series of topical posts and build a blog for Mr. Hill to integrate with his current web site. Additionally, Mr. Hill and his team will provide a forum for information and advice focusing on retirement challenges.

“There are many solutions out there that pre-retirees and investors may not know about,” he continued.

One example he concluded, is the in-service non-hardship withdrawals that are available to employees experiencing a financial pinch — and don’t know what to do.

By John C. Drachman, Chief Marketing Officer, Advisolocity

Advisolocity’s Chairman and CEO, D. Bruce Johnston, believes that social media offers mutual fund marketers a convenient and inexpensive way to differentiate themselves in the marketplace.

Johnston Slated; Aug. 3 Webinar

“I think firms that provide articles of interest and thought leadership pieces through blogs and social networking,  in addition to fund facts and market commentaries, will distinguish themselves from the rest,” he said recently.

Bruce will share more of his views Tuesday, August 3, at a webinar called “Using Social Media” sponsored by Unified Fund Services, Inc., a subsidiary of Huntington Bank, which is based in Columbus, OH. (As of August 1 Unified was renamed Huntington Asset Services.)

Bruce will be part of a panel that includes Jeff Young, Unified Fund Services (Huntington Asset Services), Ellen Bruno, Compliance Advisor Professionals and Oat Ruchira, Unified Financial Securities.

In addition to offering some practical guidance on how to use social media, the webinar also intends to feature insights on regulatory trends and archiving solutions.

Interested investment industry professionals are invited to participate in the webinar by registering here. Unified/Huntington will continue to expand its social media marketing focus during its annual client meeting to be held September 12-13.