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The Principal Unveils Mobile Planning Tools for Participants, Financial Advisors

The Principal now offers new planning tools on its mobile website that focus on helping consumers and business owners rebuild their financial security. In addition, two new mobile compensation services for advisors provide direct access to compensation information from The Principal through their smart phones.

Dream. Design. Rebuild. Goes Mobile.

The Dream. Design. Rebuild. mobile site is an extension of a participant seminar and handbook, designed to help retirement plan participants define their financial goals, create a strategy, and find a financial professional to help make those dreams a reality.

The site lets users select up to three dreams, receive mobile-friendly "to do" items and resources for goals like buying a home, becoming debt free or going back to school; and e-mail a list of actionable to-do items to themselves and their advisor.

Users can instantly connect to the mobile site via https://m.principal.com/dreams or, participants can scan the 2D barcode or tag on page seven of their Dream. Design. Rebuild. handbook with a web-enabled smart phone.

America Rebuilds Financial Education Offers New Tools

Two new mobile planning tools have been added to the America Rebuilds mobile site to help consumers assess and understand their needs for life and disability income insurance. A From Here to Security^sm disability income calculator helps consumers analyze how much income replacement they may need if they become too sick or hurt to work. Similarly, the From Here to Security^sm life insurance calculator helps analyze income needs to determine whether their coverage is adequate for survivors, in the event of their death.

Mobile Compensation Services at Advisors' Fingertips

To address the need for information on the go, two new mobile applications put compensation information at advisors' fingertips.

The Principal Advisor Compensation Application provides direct access to a consolidated and summarized view of compensation statements. The application lets advisors access current and prior compensation statement summaries, view compensation paid by product line and monitor year-to-date earnings directly from a mobile device. It offers many benefits including convenient access to a consolidated summary of compensation statements in one location, access to compensation information while on the go and meeting with clients, and easy-to-navigate information designed specifically for the mobile phone.

For those who prefer text messaging or email, advisors can sign up for compensation alerts that provide estimated gross compensation information through their mobile phones or e-mail accounts.

"Advisors are where their clients are - they don't operate their businesses from their desks. We've designed a number of new mobile applications to give advisors the information they want, when they want it and how they want it," said Gary Scholten, senior vice president and chief information officer at The Principal. "Advisors are more important to people's financial security today, and we're committed to helping advisors save time and operate their businesses more efficiently and effectively. That's more critical in today's 24/7 global world than ever before."

The mobile compensation application is available to all agents and advisors who currently receive compensation statements from The Principal today - an estimated 32,000 career and outside advisors. The text messaging service is available to career producers of The Principal.

For more news and insights from The Principal, connect with us on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/ThePrincipal.

About the Principal Financial Group

The Principal Financial Group (The Principal )¹ is a leader in offering businesses, individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services, including retirement and investment services, life and health insurance, and banking through its diverse family of financial services companies. A member of the Fortune 500, the Principal Financial Group has $305.7 billion in assets under management² and serves some 18.9 million customers worldwide from offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the United States. Principal Financial Group, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PFG. For more information, visit www.principal.com.

¹ "The Principal Financial Group" and "The Principal" are registered service marks of Principal Financial Services, Inc., a member of the Principal Financial Group.

² As of Sept. 30, 2010.

Principal Financial Group
Joelle Kirchhoff, 515-246-4907
Kirchhoff.joelle@principal.com