John Hancock Financial Network plans to launch a new retirement income program designed to help financial professionals and advisors in its network maximize sustainable retirement income for their clients and potentially minimize the risks clients face. The Retirement Ready program leverages a product allocation approach and includes a web-based product allocation analysis tool, a robust array of multimedia educational and training materials for clients, financial professionals and advisors.

"Research shows that the most trusted advisors are those who are now helping clients plan the decumulation stage of retirement," said Brian Heapps, interim president of John Hancock. "So we worked with some of the best in the business to develop a comprehensive program to help ensure our financial professionals and advisors are in the best possible position with the most advanced tools to help guide their clients."

"Traditional strategies such as asset allocation, where clients invest in different asset classes according to their risk tolerance, may work well when accumulating assets. Alone, however, they are often not enough to help protect clients from key retirement risks such as volatile equity markets, inflation, sequence of returns, and longevity," explained Bruce Harrington, head of retirement sales and strategy at John Hancock.