Greenspan on Baby Boomers

Dr. Alan Greenspan – U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman (1997-2006) – encourages Baby Boomers around the world to take more responsibility to prepare for their retirement.

“We have to recognize that what we’re going through is unique in world history,” said Dr. Greenspan. “Retirement is a relatively new phenomenon. As a society we’ve dealt with it successfully in the past few decades but we’ve never had such a huge group of individuals going into the system at once and then living so long in their retirement years.”

Greenspan said the government will find it increasingly difficult to keep all the financial promises it has made through Social Security, Medicare and other programs in coming years. He added that the longer we collectively wait to deal with these key issues, the more difficult they will become to address.

Greenspan added that, as life expectancy continues to increase, Baby Boomers will likely look for additional ways to remove the financial uncertainties that will come from a longer retirement by analyzing their lifestyle, determining the resources at their disposal, and ultimately making decisions to best prepare for their future.

Bank of America to Acquire Reverse Mortgage Business of Seattle Mortgage Company

Acquisition enhances Bank of America's leadership position in providing financial solutions for seniors

CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of America today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the reverse mortgage business of Seattle Mortgage Company, an indirect subsidiary of Seattle Financial Group, Inc., one of the leaders in providing financial solutions for seniors. Bank of America is one of the country's leading mortgage lenders, and has recently been piloting innovative reverse mortgage products with customers in Arizona since November. Seattle Mortgage markets its reverse mortgages under its division name, Reverse Mortgage of America.

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"Seattle Mortgage has been a pioneer in developing mortgage products and services that address the senior population's growing need for greater financial liquidity," said Floyd Robinson, president of Bank of America Consumer Real Estate. "This is in line with Bank of America's desire to grow its consumer real estate business by utilizing our significant advantages in size and scale."

Financial details of the transaction were not announced. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2007, pending regulatory approval. David Rupp, Bank of America Home Equity executive, will oversee the integrated operation.

"We will leverage Seattle Mortgage's industry expertise with Bank of America's leading distribution channels to achieve market leadership in this growing area of the financial services marketplace," Rupp said.

Seattle Mortgage entered the reverse mortgage industry in 1995. It has a loan portfolio of 40,000 reverse mortgages, totaling over $4 billion in outstanding balances. Approximately 400 Seattle Mortgage associates will join Bank of America, including a retail sales force of more than 200 sales associates in 25 states and the District of Columbia. John Nixon, executive vice president and COO of Reverse Mortgage of America, a division of Seattle Mortgage Company, and Charlie Jones, vice president of Loan Servicing, will join Bank of America and report to David Rupp.

Bank of America achieved market leadership as the nation's No. 1 home equity lender in 2006 and remains the market leader today with more than $92 billion in loans and lines of credit.

UBS Investment Bank acted as exclusive financial advisor to Seattle Mortgage Company in this transaction.