New rules for a 21st century retirement

April 2, 2018

A 21st century retirement needs a new set of rules to provide financial and emotional security for a post-career period that can last 30 years or more. "Rewirement: Rewiring the Way Your Think About Retirement," a new book by professor Jamie...

Deciphering Social Security survivor benefit rules

March 23, 2018

A financial adviser from South Carolina reached out to me recently for help sifting through the numerous Social Security regulations affecting potential benefits for his recently widowed client. "This is probably the most complex situation I...

State auto-IRA programs poised to catch advisers' attention

March 13, 2018

The first state auto-IRA plan is up and running. OregonSaves, which launched last year, has more than 19,000 individuals and 300 companies participating. What does this mean for financial advisers? Oregon's foray into the retirement arena is...

Social Security benefits losing buying power

March 20, 2018

Automatic cost-of-living adjustments are supposed to help Social Security benefits keep pace with inflation, but years of low inflation and rising Medicare costs are threatening the adequacy of a key component of seniors' income. Over the past...

Your role in people's happiness

March 17, 2018

Every day we hear about financial wellness and financial wellness programs. And the attention is justified. As advisers, you are probably involved in some aspect of increasing people's sense of financial wellness, either individually or programmatically....

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) advisers vs. institutional consultants: On a collision course?

January 31, 2018

At a recent industry conference that primarily attracted consultants and providers for the largest retirement plans, a Willis Towers Watson representative asked me in the elevator where I was from. I answered, "The dark side." He laughed, but...

Chipping away at entitlement reform

March 5, 2018

The 2034 deadline when the Social Security trust funds are scheduled to run dry gets closer every day. At that point, there would be enough revenue from earmarked payroll taxes to pay about 75% of promised benefits — assuming Congress does...

Questions to ask to stay compliant as rules change

March 17, 2018

The regulatory landscape for investment advice fractured in 2017. States enacted new rules. The Securities and Exchange Commission began to focus on a definition of "fiduciary." And the National Association of Insurance Commissioners began considering...

401(k) robo-revolution is underway

March 17, 2018

Tech upstarts are making inroads into 401(k) plans and that's bad news for some retirement plan advisers. Such fledgling companies as Betterment for Business, ForUsAll, Human Interest and Vestwell, as well as more established players such as...

Growing pains for 401(k) advisers

March 17, 2018

Darwinian forces are resulting in the survival of the fittest. With 401(k) provider fees declining and profit margins shrinking, especially for defined-contribution investment-only providers, the budgets to support retirement plan advisers are...

Social Security and divorce: Mary Beth Franklin answers your questions

March 7, 2018

During a recent webinar on how to maximize Social Security benefits, I received a question from an attendee that perfectly summarizes the type of challenge that many financial advisers face when trying to help divorced clients create a secure...

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...

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...

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...

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Older boomers embrace retirement, study finds

December 6, 2017

A funny thing happened on the way to retirement. For many boomers, fear of the unknown gave way to contentment once they got to the other side. Six out of 10 retired boomers feel better than expected about their retirement, according to a new...

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...