About Us
University of Illinois Extension
University of Illinois Extension provides practical, research-based information and programs to help individuals, families, farms, businesses and communities in Illinois. Its mission is to help you put knowledge to work.
Financial Support
The Plan Well, Retire Well Project was generously funded by the Lauritsen Family Foundation.
The Plan Well, Retire Well website is funded in part by a grant from the Investor Protection Trust (IPT). The IPT is a nonprofit organization devoted to investor education. Since 1993 the IPT has worked with the States to provide the independent, objective investor education needed by all Americans to make informed investment decisions.
Plan Well, Retire Well Project Team Authors
- Chair: Karen Chan, Extension Educator 2000-Current
- Principal Investigator: Paul E. McNamara, Extension Specialist, 2000–Current
- Ellen Burton, Acting Regional Director, 2000–2003
- Charlotte Crawford, Retired Extension Educator, 2000–2002
- Mary Ann Fugate, Retired Extension Educator, 2000–2006
- Pat Hildebrand, Extension Educator, 2000–2007
- Jennifer Hunt, Extension Educator, 2000–Current
- Angela Lyons, Extension Specialist, 2001–2003
- Kathy Sweedler, Extension Assistant, 2000–Current
Awards
- National Extension Association for Family and Consumer Sciences (NEAFCS) National Internet Education Technology Communications Award, 2006
- Freddie Mac 2006 Successful Outreach and Marketing Efforts for Financial Education Award, finalist
- NEAFCS National Marketing Package Award, 2006
- University of Illinois Extension 2006 Outstanding or Innovative Program—Team Award for Plan Well, Retire Well: Your how-to guide Website, 2006
- Epsilon Sigma Phi—Alpha Nu Chapter (Illinois)'s Team Award, 2006
UIUC Webmasters "Cool Site" programming award, April 2004
Content Reviewers
Thank you to the following people who reviewed the content of the different sections of the website:
- Karen F. Folk, Ph.D., CFPTM
- Earl L. Grinols, Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- John Micetich, MBA, CFPTM
- Aimee Prawitz, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Northern Illinois University
- Susan Taylor, Extension Educator, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Barbara Wollan, Family Resource Management Field Specialist, Iowa State University
Spanish Translation
Thank you to the following people for translating the Choose Investments section into Spanish.
- Dr. German Cutz, Extension Specialist in Spanish Language Programming, University of Illinois Extension
- Liliana Nichamin and Adriana Martinez, Independent Contractors.
Programmers
Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois
- Clint Stearns, Research Programmer
- Clark Roberts, Manager of Systems Services
- John Taylor, Research Programmer
- Reggie Varnado, Research Programmer
Video Production
- Information Technology and Communications Services, University of Illinois
- James B. Knoblauch, Extension Specialist Video, Photo/Video
- John P. Tubbs, Media Communications Specialist, Web Management and Support
Thank You
This website was developed with the support and help of many, many people. Feedback was gathered in a variety of ways including the initial storyboard session, focus groups, usability and beta testing, and informal polling. Thank you to each person who provided feedback. Your assistance was very important and much appreciated. Thank you also to Dr. Vicki Fitzsimmons for her help to begin this project.
Thank you to the following actors and participants in the video vignettes: Sarah Antrim-Cambium, Julie Claussen, Eduardo Garcia, Aaron Golden, Nichole Handy, Jon Hill, Jan Marken, Margaret McNamara, Deidre Ann Norris, Antonio Reyes, Shannon Richardson, Sari Sanchez, Trina H. Simpson, and Amy Young.
Plan Well, Retire Well: Your how-to guide is a part of the national Cooperative Extension Initiative, Financial Security in Later Life. This initiative aims to make responsibility for later life financial security a priority for individuals. For more information, visit the website http://www.csrees.usda.gov/nea/economics/fsll/fsll.html.
