Merrill Edge® Launches Face Retirement

In an effort to motivate Americans to save for their retirement, Merrill Edge ^® today introduced Face Retirement, a social tool that ages a picture of consumers, enabling them to see how they will look years down the line.

“In a Stanford University experiment, people who saw age-enhanced images of themselves were more likely to save more for retirement, compared to those who weren’t exposed to their future selves,” said Alok Prasad, head of Merrill Edge. “Face Retirement is designed to minimize that gap by giving consumers a preview of their future self, encouraging them to take control of long-term financial planning.”

According to the fall 2012 Merrill Edge Report, half (52 percent) of mass affluent have saved less than $250,000 for retirement. As a result, more than half of respondents plan to retire later than they had one year ago (56 percent), a year-over-year increase of 19 percent from November 2011.

To use the Merrill Edge Face Retirement tool, visit http://faceretirement.merrilledge.com.Consumers can input their age and gender and use a webcam to provide their photo. Merrill Edge users can then:

• View images of what they will look like at various ages in the future.
• Preview forecasted costs of living.
• Learn about options to begin saving today.
• Share pictures of their future self on Facebook.

Merrill Edge enables clients to seamlessly manage their Merrill Edge investment accounts and Bank of America bank accounts via its online platform, phone capabilities and branch offices. Clients have the choice to manage their money on their own via an online, self-directed investment account. As an alternative to an online investing account, clients can open a type of account that enables them to receive investment guidance and specific recommendations from a licensed Financial Solutions Advisor by phone or in select banking centers.

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