Claiming Social Security early has lasting impact on survivors

August 14, 2018

I received an urgent email from a financial adviser this week asking whether his terminally ill client should file immediately for Social Security so he wouldn't miss out on claiming his benefits before he died. While that may seem like a logical...

Plan sponsors shift focus away from costs

August 13, 2018

With about one-third of plan sponsors citing it as their major concern, effectively preparing employees for retirement financially has slightly edged out an emphasis on reducing plan costs as their top issue. That was the key finding of Fidelity...

Get Ready to Guide Clients Through Income Distribution

August 1, 2018

Every day, thousands of baby boomers are cleaning out their desks and heading into retirement. As a result, demand for income-distribution specialists who can help them plan for this new chapter in life is expected to climb for many years. If...

Sponsored by Securities America

Checking one off the bucket list

June 25, 2018

For years, I dreamed about taking a European river cruise, salivating over television ads showing luxury cruise ships floating past ancient castles and iconic windmills. I finally convinced my husband Mike that a river cruise would be the perfect...

Small businesses face a big retirement challenge

July 17, 2018

Here is an amazing statistic: Small businesses account for 99.7% of all U.S. firms and employ more than half of all American workers, according to the Small Business Administration. Collectively, small businesses drive the economy, but many...

An advisor's guide to engaging the modern family

July 17, 2018

The following is an excerpt from the new white paper from Cadaret, Grant & Co., Inc. and the InvestmentNews Content Strategy Studio, “An Advisor's Guide to Engaging the Modern Family". The following scenario is all too common: An advisor works...

Sponsored by Cadaret, Grant & Co., Inc. and the InvestmentNews Content Strategy Studio

The gig economy as a backup retirement plan

May 17, 2018

Today, more than one in three U.S. workers are freelancers in the "gig economy," relying on do-it-yourself employment either as their main source of income or as a side job. Freelancers are expected to grow to make up 40% of the American workforce...

Empower's new 401(k) cybersecurity guarantee a sign of the times

June 26, 2018

Empower Retirement, one of the largest retirement-plan record keepers, has begun offering participants a backstop against financial losses resulting from cyber attacks — both a sign of the mounting threat digital crime poses in the 401(k)...

Retirement risks keep rising

January 23, 2018

Half of working-age households in the U.S. were on track in 2016 to be able to maintain their standard of living in retirement, according to the National Retirement Risk Index report out this month from the Center for Retirement Research at...

Financial advisers should avoid error by omission and consider reverse mortgages

January 22, 2018

Over the past few years, I have been very outspoken about the need for financial advisers to incorporate reverse mortgages into their practices, especially those acting under a fiduciary duty of care or doing retirement income planning. As a...

401(k) advisory firms creating in-house financial wellness programs

June 19, 2018

Large retirement-plan advisory shops are increasingly adopting their own in-house financial wellness programs as they look to capitalize on an emerging area of client demand, battle ongoing fee compression and try to stand out in a market that's...

Are we calculating investor underperformance in the right way?

June 5, 2017

If I had invested $10,000 into large-capitalization U.S. stocks in January 1926, I would have a portfolio worth $60,351,158 at the end of 2016. Very impressive. This represents an annualized return of 10.04%. Of course, an unfortunate reality...

Coordinate couples' income needs ahead of time

October 26, 2017

The differences between men and women have been humorous fodder for late night talk shows, movies and books for a long time. But planning for retirement as a couple is serious business. We know the stats: women live longer than men, typically...

Retirement Planning is Possible While Caring for a Child with Autism

October 16, 2017

Without question, parenting a child with autism comes with a unique set of circumstances that can only be understood by others who have experienced the same highs and lows. There is a steep learning curve – one that I can't say I've fully...

Sponsored by Voya Financial

Seniors scramble to beat reverse mortgage deadline

September 26, 2017

I received a frantic phone call from a reverse mortgage lender in California last week. He said he was worried about the large number of senior homeowners who were scrambling to qualify for a reverse mortgage before new, more restrictive lender...

Retirement plan adviser sales mostly for small players

June 2, 2018

The approach of retirement age for many advisers and the need to meet regulatory and technological demands are driving small-plan advisers to sell to larger specialized firms. But massive consolidation that would create an industry of just a...

Consolidation of the defined-contribution market

June 2, 2018

The retirement-plan intermediary space has been "a game of two halves" for many years. Traditional consulting firms have dominated the market for large and mega-size plans, while broker-dealers and registered investment adviser firms have done...

Factors that determine a retirement plan adviser's value

June 2, 2018

Virtually everyone in the retirement plan business concedes that determining the value of an adviser's plan business is challenging. For one, so many variables determine it, noted Pam Popp, president of Lockton Retirement Services. These include...