FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Research shows that individuals in the 50- to 70-year-old age group believe they are prepared for a comfortable retirement, but many may not have saved enough to achieve that goal.

In November, the Garrison Financial Institute in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas collaborated with the Fayetteville Public Library to host the first of “How Can I Afford Retirement?” series of workshops.

Although this first session has passed, each workshop is designed to be an individual unit so people can still register to attend the other sessions.

The workshops are noncommercial and free, but participants must register in advance. The second session – “Closing the Gap: Investment and Expense Strategies, Even for Late Starters!” – is offered at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11, or 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 13.

 Session 3, “Investing Wisely to Avoid the Financial Risk of Longer Life Expectancy,” will be offered at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 11, or 10 a.m. Saturday, March 13; and Session 4, “Protecting Your Investments – The Best Defense is a Wise and Safe Investor,” will be offered in fall 2010.

For more information and to register, go to: http://gfi.uark.edu/

The workshops will also be offered in April, May and June 2010 at the Adolphine Fletcher Terry Library and John Gould Fletcher Library, both part of the Central Arkansas Library System in Little Rock. In addition, they will be repeated in all locations over the next two years.

“In keeping with our mission to contribute to the economic development of the state of Arkansas and the welfare of its citizens, the Garrison Financial Institute will offer these workshops free of charge,” said Wayne Y. Lee, executive director of the institute. “We are grateful to the U.S. Department of Labor for providing free copies of the publication, Taking the Mystery out of Retirement, and other materials for the workshops.

“We want to provide an objective, noncommercial program to help individuals make informed investment choices with their retirement assets. Each session will have a different topic concerning retirement planning. Although a financial professional will present the workshops, our program is not affiliated with any commercial organization,” Lee said.

Some of the goals of the “How Can I Afford Retirement?” workshops:

• Provide ways for people with limited retirement savings to make the most of their remaining earning years.

• Discuss the investing concerns of women and how divorced or widowed women particularly can be vulnerable to fraud.

• Help participants choose investments wisely.

• Assist participants in protecting their life savings by avoiding investment scams and by covering the Investor Bill of Rights and the role of federal and state governments in protecting investors.

• Offer suggestions on how to choose financial advisers.

“We are grateful to the Investor Protection Trust for providing the grant to make these informative workshops possible,” added Lee. “With the responsibility for retirement planning falling on individuals instead of employers, and the baby boom generation approaching this stage of life, the importance of investor education and protection has never been more important.”

The Investor Protection Trust is a nonprofit organization devoted to investor education.  Since 1993, the trust has worked with states to provide independent, objective investor education needed by all Americans to make informed investor decisions. To learn more, visit the Investor Protection Trust Web site.

A financial professional will present each “How Can I Afford Retirement?” session, which will also include a 15-minute briefing by a reference librarian regarding various resources available in the library; small discussion groups; and a question-and-answer session.

“We are very pleased that the grant is also providing funds to buy retirement and financial reference information for each of the libraries,” said Lee. “These resources will be available for participants and the community to use at their convenience.”

The Garrison Financial Institute was created in 2005 by a gift from the Garrison family and the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation to advance financial education and research through practice. Its mission is to enhance student learning through experience, foster research that extends and perfects best practices, and contribute to the economic development of Arkansas and the welfare of its citizens.