SPRINGFIELD, Mass., July 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Elaine Sarsynski, executive vice president of MassMutual's Retirement Services Division and chairman and CEO of MassMutual International LLC, was a featured guest on Bloomberg's "Taking Stock" radio program on July 11. Hosted by Bloomberg news anchors Pimm Fox and Courtney Donohoe, the show focused on the subject of retirement preparedness and what steps Americans can take to better prepare.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100927/NE72118-a )

Ms. Sarsynski is on a crusade to drive awareness of challenges facing Americans as they plan and save for retirement and is particularly focused on helping to bring attention to specific concerns facing women. During the interview, she discussed the findings of recent qualitative research sponsored by MassMutual Retirement Services that provided insights into what retirement plan/401(k) participants are thinking and feeling about retirement.

The research, conducted between December 5, 2011 and February 17, 2012, revealed that, while about a third of surveyed participants in retirement plans administered by MassMutual began saving at an early age, the rest of the respondents ranged in age from late teens to late fifties. Many wished they had "paid more attention" and had implemented a "more strategic plan" to achieve their retirement goals.

On the subject of health care, Ms. Sarsynski affirmed that it is, indeed, a topic of great importance to retirement plan participants. She emphasized that retirement is "not a sprint" but rather a long-term proposition that requires saving consistently throughout an individual's working life to achieve sufficient savings levels.

"This research clearly demonstrates the need for financial advisors and retirement plan providers like MassMutual to help Americans figure out what it means to have adequate replacement income in retirement and then help them devise a strategy to make it happen," says Sarsynski. "At MassMutual, we are trying to change the conversation to one that's more about monthly income and what it will take for an individual saver to reach a sufficient level to sustain them in retirement. Financial advisors have a critical role in this discussion and women often need even more help," adds Sarsynski.

MassMutual's participant website, http://www.retiresmart.com, features its RetireSmart(SM) Ready tool, designed to help individuals calculate and adjust their savings levels to help them increase the likelihood of accomplishing this goal. MassMutual also offers a PlanSmart(SM) Analysis report that helps employers offering retirement plans to evaluate this measure at the plan level.

Ms. Sarsynski quoted one participant as saying, "I started putting money away at 26, but didn't really start planning and paying attention until I was 44." She stated that this was a common theme among survey respondents.

For more information about MassMutual's retirement services, please call your retirement plan advisor or contact MassMutual at (888) 626-4911, http://www.massmutual.com/retire.

MassMutual Financial Group is a marketing name for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) [of which Retirement Services is a division] and its affiliated companies and sales representatives. MassMutual is headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts and its major affiliates include: Babson Capital Management LLC; Baring Asset Management Limited; Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC; The First Mercantile Trust Company; MassMutual International LLC; MML Investors Services, LLC, Member FINRA and SIPC; OppenheimerFunds, Inc.; and The MassMutual Trust Company, FSB.

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MassMutual's Elaine Sarsynski Interviewed by Bloomberg Radio on Retirement Issues Facing Americans