Dugout Debt

Minor-league baseball fans and players chat about debt in a new on-line clip

ST. PAUL, Minn., July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Two popular American pastimes --
borrowing and baseball -- intersect in a new YouTube video addressing
Americans' attitudes toward debt.

Filmed on a sunny day at Midway Stadium in St. Paul, Minn., the four-minute
guerrilla video captures an array of attitudes, ranging from nonchalant to
no-nonsense in impromptu interviews with tailgaters, players, concessionaires
and a musician.

Minor-league ballplayers from the nationally known St. Paul Saints pause in
dugouts and batting cages to discuss their own debt. Their stories sound very
much like ones told by their fans.

Produced by Securian Financial Group, the clip illustrates formal findings
from the group's 2009 Survey of Financial Values and Debt , which indicates
that Americans are saving more than in recent years, keeping the cash for
emergencies, but standing pat with old debt loads.

One ballplayer is behind on his cable bill - "maybe I'll hit the lottery," he
says tongue-in-cheek, resolved to pay off all his debt someday. A fan confides
credit card debt but expects to be debt free one day. When? The on-camera
reaction is instructive, suggesting that debt reduction plans, especially
among younger respondents, are more optimistically assertive than specific.

The interviews gleaned little pessimism about the economy. Yet the Securian
survey released in May 2009 indicates that debt-free retirement, a key
consumer goal, may be the downturn's biggest casualty. Eighty-two percent of
survey respondents are carrying non-mortgage debt, a figure that is virtually
undiminished since Securian's initial survey in 2007. Baby Boomers in the
survey actually added debt since 2007.

"Consumers are wisely adjusting their spending and borrowing, but the ultimate
goal of debt-free retirement will be more difficult to achieve without a
better balance between saving and debt reduction," said Kerry Geurkink,
director of Individual Annuity Marketing, Securian Retirement.

View the complete clip here.

Securian Financial Group helps provide financial security for individuals and
businesses in the form of insurance, retirement products and services, and
investments. Securian has nearly $775 billion of life insurance in force, $25
billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2009 and a nationwide work
force of 3,600 employees. Securian serves more than 9,000,000 individuals in
the U.S.

SOURCE Securian Financial Group

Maggie Jensen of Securian Financial Group, +1-651-665-7558