Robert Schmidt, Business and Computer Writing

Steve Wilson Guides You Through
the Retirement Planning Maze

As a result of breakthroughs in nutrition, fitness, and medicine, you face an engaging question: How should you invest your savings so you don’t outlive them? From among thousands of investment options, how do you choose those that foster your dreams while protecting your future?

Stephen W. Wilson, Senior Vice President and Investment Officer at First Union Securities, helps you find the answers. Hundreds of employees approaching retirement have taken charge of life’s "second half" with Steve’s forthright guidance.

Security in your hands
A Retirement Planning Specialist since 1993, Steve specializes in investing lump-sum distributions from qualified corporate plans. Using proven planning techniques, he puts your funds to work while managing your exposure to risk. Steve’s plans are conservative by design, to protect your assets in any economic environment.

Many clients learn of Steve when they attend his GTE retirement seminars. Steve often opens their eyes, explaining the company’s rules and loopholes better than the company does. His inside knowledge of the retirement process turns skeptics into believers.

Service with a smile
Steve provides an unparalleled level of service. Beginning years before you retire, he’s happy to answer questions about your current investments and financial goals, such as helping your children or consolidating your assets. As clients note, he’s friendly, personable, and quick to return phone calls.

When you’re closer to retirement, Steve interviews you in depth and develops a 30- to 40-page report. He’ll spend as much time as it takes, even coming to your house, to explain your options and his recommendations. All without fees or obligations.

Advice and more
Throughout your retirement, Steve works with you to adjust your plan to changing conditions. As one client said, "We put our hard-earned retirement funds in Steve’s hands and we’re absolutely thrilled with the results he’s achieved." Many recommend Steve to their friends and family.

Steve goes above and beyond the call of duty. When a crisis looms, he offers moral support, manages the paperwork, or locates an attorney. Clients are proud to call him a friend as well as an advisor.

About Steve Wilson
Steve graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UC Berkeley and earned a Masters Degree with honors from Stanford. He has written a weekly financial column and hosted a daily radio show on retirement issues. Steve serves on the boards of the Ventura County Salvation Army and the Christian Business Men’s Committee. Married since 1974, Steve and his wife Linda have four children. The family enjoys sailing together and joining Steve, an amateur astronomer, at his backyard telescope.

About First Union Securities
First Union Securities is the 6^th largest brokerage firm in the United States, with more than 300 offices nationwide. First Union backs its advisors with detailed research reports, state-of-the-art workstation and Intranet systems, and direct consultations with senior management. Through affiliate First Union Corporation, clients have access to lending and business services as well as stocks, mutual funds, and CDs.

(side 2)
Clients Wholeheartedly Recommend Steve Wilson

After attending two of Steve’s retirement seminars, Harold Smith, a retired GTE hourly worker, still wasn’t sure about choosing him. "What sold me was he came to all the way from Westlake Village to my house in Los Angeles," says Smith. Other financial planners wanted Smith to come to their offices.

Smith also liked Steve’s "realistic view of the market. He sets a goal that’s achievable over the long run without excessive risk." For many clients the goal is 8-9% average annual growth, not the 12-14% that some other advisors imply they can deliver.

Retired GTE managers Mike and Susan McCoy confirm this. "Steve is conservative in his estimates," says Mike McCoy, "unlike many in the field, who exaggerate. Steve is the only financial planner I’d recommend."

Part of the Family
Bill and Judy Smith, retired GTE managers, were convinced when Steve spent most of the day answering their questions. Steve is a "people person," the Smiths say, "and we’ve become part of Steve’s family."

Pacific Bell worker Bertha Tatum and her sister, a GTE retiree, are pleased with the work Steve is doing for them. Tatum says, "Steve is likable, pleasant, and very good at answering questions over the phone."

Other clients feel the same way. "He’s a friend," says Shirley Thomas, widow of a GTE manager. When her husband died, Steve offered moral support, managed the GTE paperwork, and found an attorney to handle the will. "He goes way beyond what’s expected of a financial planner," says Thomas. "I’m totally satisfied with Steve."

Escaping the Maze
Twila Mueller, a retired GTE hourly worker, says Steve’s seminars "opened the eyes" of GTE employees. "We had no idea what we had," she observes. "Steve explains GTE’s retirement rules and loopholes better than the company."

Mueller has recommended Steve to many others. One skeptical friend called 24 of Steve’s clients and didn’t get a single negative comment. Mueller even persuaded her inlaws, a conservative couple in their 80s, to go with Steve. When their portfolio began earning $5,000 per month instead of per year, they asked why Mueller hadn’t recommended him earlier.

Steve Wilson, Mueller concludes, "makes things easy for you . . . inspires confidence in you . . . is with you for the long run." She sums Steve up as "Awesome!"

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