Noelle Fox, investment and product analyst at The Principal®, will present the report at the joint conference of the Academy of Financial Services and the Financial Planning Association in Anaheim, Calif., on Oct. 10, 2009.

Fox and Drew Denning, vice president of Income Solutions at The Principal, are co-authors of the award-winning white paper, "Sustaining Income through Retirement: Four Strategies for Retiring Clients". The paper compares and contrasts four key methods of turning retirement savings into an income stream:

Mutual funds with automated income payments

Variable annuities with guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefits (GMWB)

Income annuities

Combinations of mutual funds and income annuities

"This paper provides an objective analysis to help financial professionals sort through the four alternatives and guide their clients to a personalized retirement income strategy," said Drew Denning, vice president at The Principal®. "The unbiased nature has made this paper very popular among financial professionals and we are pleased it has been chosen for such a distinguished conference."

In order to be selected for presentation at the 2009 meetings, papers must meet a number of guidelines including having an emphasis on personal financial planning. According to the Academy of Financial Services, papers are judged on "relevancy of topics to providers of the award, potential significance of the results, quality of hypothesis and quality of writing and presentation."

The annual meeting of the Academy of Financial Services and Financial Planning Association allows academicians and financial professionals to share and discuss the latest developments and newest research in the field of personal finance.

The white paper was named the runner up of the Retirement Income Industry Association's 2008 Advisor-Focused DC Communications category for Excellence in Retirement Income Communications Awards. It is available in the Retirement Section of the Principal Research Center, www.principal.com/research. The white paper is part of the Principal Retirement Income EdgeSM, a comprehensive program equipping financial professionals with education, tools and other resources to help meet client needs and grow their retirement income planning business.

About the Principal Financial Group

The Principal Financial Group® (The Principal ®)1 is a leader in offering businesses, individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services, including retirement and investment services, life and health insurance, and banking through its diverse family of financial services companies. A member of the Fortune 500, the Principal Financial Group has $257.7 billion in assets under management2 and serves some 18.8 million customers worldwide from offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the United States. Principal Financial Group, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PFG. For more information, visit www.principal.com.

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1 "The Principal Financial Group" and "The Principal" are registered service marks of Principal Financial Services, Inc., a member of the Principal Financial Group.

2 As of June 30, 2009

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.