WASHINGTON, D.C., June 21, 2006 -- C. Robert (Rob) Henrikson, chairman of the board, president and CEO of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), today told members of the U. S. Senate’s Special Committee on Aging that as the burden of retirement has increasingly shifted to the individual, we are now asking individuals to do something that they have never done before: fund and finance the rest of their lives.

At a hearing entitled "Managing Retirement Assets: Ensuring Seniors Don't Outlive Their Savings," Henrikson said: "The good news is Americans are living longer than ever. The bad news is many will not both live long and prosper. The culprit is the unprecedented financial burden brought about by the shift away from traditional safety nets that once guaranteed income for life."

Henrikson went on to explain in his testimony that a fundamental transition occurs at the point of retirement – the transition from saving to living off one’s savings. In that process of transition, individuals are increasingly on their own in managing multiple risks.

"While inflation and market risk can have a tremendous impact, longevity risk is, in my opinion, the biggest risk facing retirees," stated Henrikson. "The reason longevity is the greatest retirement risk we face is because it is the only risk an individual cannot manage on his or her own. Market risk can be alleviated somewhat through asset allocation, and inflation risk can be addressed by investing in growth equities. But longevity risk only serves to exacerbate these other two risks by increasing the length of time an individual is exposed to them."

"The use of pooled risk is still an individual’s best and most cost effective defense, because when a group is assembled and mortality experience is pooled, monumental efficiencies take place. An average retiree, for example, would need to have saved about one-third more to attempt to replicate the power of a mortality pool and, even then, could still risk running out of money."

Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR), Chairman of the Aging Committee, called the hearing to focus attention on the challenges that Americans face once they retire. "Tomorrow's retirees will need to stretch retirement dollars over a longer period of time," said Smith. "We need to find better ways for people to manage their assets and preserve their savings throughout retirement. With a huge wave of baby boomers about to enter retirement, it is more important than ever that we educate Americans about the financial risks in retirement."

Henrikson's testimony also included reference to legislation sponsored by the Chairman. "Recent legislation Senator Smith has introduced is heading exactly in the right direction," said Henrikson. "The Retirement Security for Life Act (S. 381) [and the Retirement Savings and Security Act] provides a good starting point to help individuals manage the risks of retirement by encouraging an income stream that cannot be outlived. I would go one step further and suggest that the retirement income crisis justifies its own package of reform proposals that address the array of risks associated with the new set of challenges facing the next generation of retirees."

A copy of Henrikson’s testimony is available upon request.

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) is a leading provider of insurance and other financial services to millions of individual and institutional customers throughout the United States. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, MetLife, Inc. offers life insurance, annuities, automobile and homeowner’s insurance and retail banking services to individuals, as well as group insurance, reinsurance and retirement and savings products and services to corporations and other institutions. Outside the U.S., the MetLife companies have direct insurance operations in Asia Pacific, Latin America and Europe. For more information, please visit www.metlife.com.