Shannah Interviewed for SFV Biz Journal

Posted date: 7/7/2008

Pension Managers, Companies Push Saving Plans

By Nadra Kareem

San Fernando Valley Business Journal Staff

High fuel prices. The mortgage crisis. Rising unemployment.

These are all factors causing Americans to not save as much as they should for retirement. But financial services insiders believe that a general lack of financial literacy, the failure of companies to educate employees about retirement planning and a belief that the government will rescue them from destitution in old age are the main reasons Americans aren’t aggressively saving for their retirement years.

“I think that people in general underestimate just how much money they really do need to save for retirement,” said Shannah Compton, a financial advisor and a partner of SLC Insurance Services Inc. in Woodland Hills. “I think it will be a huge toll on state, local and federal resources (if people don’t save).”
Compton, who specializes in financial literacy for the under-40 crowd, believes that younger generations will be particularly disadvantaged if they don’t save because advances in medicine will likely result in them living longer, thereby lengthening the amount of time they spend in retirement.

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Estate Planning: Not Just For the Faint of Heart

By Anissa B. Morse
Planned Giving Officer and Legal Counsel
Pepperdine University

Two things are certain in life: death and taxes… and possibly the fact that a Starbucks will eventually be built on the land where your home currently sits. Unfortunately, most young people today give more thought to that third certainty than the first two. Will they give me a discount on my grande mocha Frappaccino if I tell them I used to live here? This is probably because dreaming of a free coffee drink is much less stressful than thinking about parting with your assets and life.

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