The Principal Financial Group Invited For Third Time to Share Retirement Expertise at National Summit on Retirement Savings; Larry D. Zimpleman Again Appointed Delegate to 2006 SAVER Summit

Business Wire, Feb 27, 2006

DES MOINES, Iowa -- The Principal Financial Group(R), the nation's 401(k) leader and retirement solutions innovator, announced today that Larry D. Zimpleman, president--Retirement and Investor Services, has been appointed a delegate to the 2006 National Summit on Retirement Savings (SAVER Summit), being held in Washington, D.C., March 1 and 2. Renee V. Schaaf, vice president--Retirement and Investor Services, has been invited to be an expert speaker. This is the third and final SAVER Summit and representatives from The Principal(R) have been appointed to participate at each of the historic forums. E[acute accent]Convened by U.S. Vice-President Richard Cheney and co-hosted by U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao and congressional leadership, the Summit will focus on "Saving for Your Golden Years: Trends, Challenges and Opportunities." Zimpleman and a diverse group of delegates that include members of Congress and the nation's leading experts on retirement savings, are charged with developing new action plans to help Americans achieve retirement security. E[acute accent]"The SAVER Summit comes at a crucial time with the first baby boomers turning 60 this year and the personal savings rate below zero," said Zimpleman. "Employer-based retirement plans are more important than ever to the long-term financial security of U.S. workers. The critical challenge is creating strategies that will help employers and employees get the most out of these plans." E[acute accent]The 2006 Summit is the third of three summits mandated by the Savings Are Vital to Everyone's Retirement (SAVER) Act of 1997. E[acute accent]Zimpleman, a U.S. and global pension expert, is a past president of the American Academy of Actuaries, a member of the Board of Governors for the Society of Actuaries and a Trustee for the Actuarial Foundation. He has been called on frequently as an expert on retirement issues and Social Security reform by Congress and the media. E[acute accent]Schaaf will present during the session on Small Business Employee retirement savings. One of the winners of The Principal 10 Best Companies--Fremont Co-operative Produce Company of Fremont, Mich.--has been invited as a model example of a small business effectively helping its employees save for retirement. E[acute accent]"The overwhelming majority of small businesses do not offer any kind of retirement plan(1) -- often because they are perceived as too costly or time-consuming. Fremont Co-operative, with only 30 employees, demonstrates that it can be done affordably and with tremendous rewards to the business which include low turnover and high customer retention," said Schaaf. E[acute accent]Schaaf has extensive experience across the spectrum of employee benefits - including retirement plans - and has expertise on employee benefit issues for small- to medium-sized businesses.

E[acute accent]About the Principal Financial Group

E[acute accent]The Principal Financial Group(R) (The Principal (R))(2) 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 $195.2 billion in assets under management(3) and serves some 15.6 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.

E[acute accent](1) Retirement Resources Inc., year end 2004

E[acute accent](2) "The Principal Financial Group" and "The Principal" are registered service marks of Principal Financial Services, Inc., a member of the Principal Financial Group.

E[acute accent](3) As of December 31, 2005