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Retirement

News

Fidelity and Schwab Go the Way of the Roth IRA

Thirty-five percent of investors working with advisers to convert to Roth IRA.

90% of Investors Trust Advisers Amid Turmoil

Hands-on, honest financial planners are winning trust at a time most Americans are mistrustful of the financial services industry in general.

BrightScope, Acceleration Retirement Form Partnership

BrightScope rates 401(k)s, and Acceleration Retirement provides lead generation for advisers.

GLBs Buoy Variable Annuity Sales, But for How Long?

Guaranteed living benefits may now be synonymous with variable annuities, but unless insurers rein in costs and restore benefits, sales may continue to slide.

BoA Hopes Scoring 401(k) Wellness Can Help it Score Customers

To attract assets and customers, Bank of America Merrill Lynch has introduced the Financial Wellness Monitor to help employers score how well employees are doing at saving for retirement.

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Articles

Fear of Investment Losses Could Take Serious Toll on Retirement

AXA Equitable uncovered a dismal outlook for the economy and retirement in "Retirement in America: A Survey of Concerns and Expectations," in which it polled both investors and economists and found a large percentage of both groups bearish on the economy and the stock and bond markets. Twenty-four percent of consumers and 12% of economists believe the economy will continue to be volatile with no clear pattern of improvement. Eleven percent of consumers and 16% of economists believe the nation could sink back into a recession.

Tear a Page From the AARP/Today Show Playbook

America has yet to witness the tremendous societal transformation retiring Boomers will have, as the oldest is a mere 64 and the youngest, 46. But we are beginning to see signs of the tsunami-sized impact this army of 77 million will have on the workplace, the economy, healthcare and even the arts and entertainment. AARP has just formed a timely, unbelievably beneficial partnership with NBC's "Today Show." Beginning tomorrow, March 9, the No. 1 morning news program that reaches 5.9 million viewers a day, is bringing back former Emmy Award-winning host Jane Pauley to produce and report a monthly segment called, "Your Life Calling."

Sidestepping Skepticism, Prudential Scores with VAs

Bruce Ferris, senior vice president of sales and distribution for Prudential Annuities, he has heard all the objections from wholesalers and advisers concerning variable annuities. The investment community complains that the products are too expensive or too complicated, but Ferris is certain that even though VA assets under management declined over the past two years, "they aren't going away." In fact, he said the attitude about variable annuities is beginning to change.

Kalamarides Seeks Risk Disclosure for Target-Date Funds

Fund managers should consider improving target-date fund disclosure to better align these products with the individual risk tolerance of investors, particularly in light of increased regulatory scrutiny over the performance of these funds in 2008, a retirement income expert says. Jamie Kalamarides, senior vice president of retirement solutions at Prudential Retirement, recently spoke with Money Management Executive about improvements to the retirement income product lineup, annuity wrappers for 401(k) plans and multi-employer savings plans for small businesses.

403(b) Group Seeks Common Language

An industry group developing best practices for 403(b) retirement plans is coming closer to streamlining these plans to make them even more similar to 401(k) plans, but first they will have to get everyone to agree to speak the same language. Leaders say the SPARK Institute's work on 403(b) best practices is coming along smoothly, thanks to the cooperative efforts of approximately 50 participating institutions. The latest update, version 1.04, fixes many of these communication issues by requiring a standardized reporting format, which it hopes most institutions will adopt by this July.

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