MassMutual launches Youtube ‘webisode’ series on planning for retirement

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

MassMutual Financial Group, a Springfield-based company that offers a variety of financial services including retirement planning, said Thursday that one of its business units has just launched a “’webisode series” that seeks to educate consumers on how they should prepare for retirement.

The series is called Smart View, and it is scheduled to air Mondays at 2 p.m. throughout the fall season on the firm’s YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/retiresmart.

The Smart View’s host is Sofia Ramos, and the plan is for her to discuss retirement issues with David North, a systems IT professional, and Lindsey Parker, billing administrator for a local hospital, MassMutual’s Retirement Services Division said in a press release. A typical webisode should be two- to three-minutes long, the company said. The opening webisode is titled, “How Much Should I Save?”

In a statement, Kris Gates, an assistant vice president with MassMutual’s Retirement Services Division, said: “We are excited to leverage today’s social media tools in new and innovative ways to reach more Americans - across all generations - than traditional marketing efforts could alone. We hope these edutainment webisodes help Americans better plan and save, not only for a successful retirement, but for a successful financial future.”