Clients Can Add 'Living Longer' to Their List of Worries
With rising life expectancies and reports of lackluster retirement savings, the risk is a growing concern for many Americans.

To Get Women To Save For Retirement, Advisors First Need to Get Them Talking
Americans overall aren’t saving enough for retirement, and as a group, women especially seem not to be prepared. Only 8% of women workers believe that they’re building a large enough retirement fund for themselves, according to a new study.

5 Biggest Threats to Your Clients' Retirement Nest Eggs
What could possibly derail the retirement plans of those clients who are already doing everything right?

12 Terrifying Retirement Facts Keeping Boomers – And Their Advisors – Up at Night
Here are 12 not-so-cheery facts that Baby Boomers and their financial advisors need to appreciate and address in the coming year to ensure they're properly prepared for the retirement they've always envisioned.

Retirement Assets Tumble 7.5% to $17 Trillion
Total retirement assets fell to $17 trillion by the end of the third quarter, down 7.5% from the record high of $18.4 trillion that investors socked away in the prior quarter. The decline corresponded with a 13.9% drop in the S&P 500.

Clients Are Preparing to Retire, But Some Find Their Health Care Benefits Are Being Cut
The reduction in pension and health care benefits for public sector employees in Florida has led to a rush by people nearing retirement age to opt out early.

Schwab Introduces Index Fund 401(k) Plans
The offering gives 401(k) plan participants access to index mutual funds with low operating expenses as an alternative to more expensive actively managed funds typically found in most 401(k) plans.

Funded Status of U.S. Pensions Dropped to 72.4% in 2011
U.S. Pensions’ funded status dropped 12.7 percentage points over the full year 2011 to 72.4%, thanks to a sharp increase in liabilities that outpaced any rise in plan assets, according to BNY Mellon.

Retirement By Design
As one advisor found, planners need to know how to do much more than build wealth for their clients.

On Guard
Planners need to ensure that clients with self-directed IRAs are protected against a variety of scams.

NY Life Unveils Client-Satisfaction Benchmarking Tool
New York Life Retirement Plan Services, a division of New York Life Investments, has launched a new client-satisfaction benchmarking tool for retirement plan advisors.

2012 Could Shape Up As Risky Business for Investors
Investing in 2012 may very well prove to be the year of “risky business” because of the possible rewards and punishments, according to Prudential Annuities Chief Market Strategist Quincy Krosby.

• About-Face: Investors Venture Back Into Stock Mutual Funds
• Backwardation & Contango: An ETF Glossary
• Millionaires Want to Give Back Despite Economic Headwinds
• Lifting The Cloud Over Annuities
• Breaking Down the Unattainable Life Insurance Consumer

News You May Have Missed

CFP Board Seeks Comment on How to Handle Planner Bankruptcies

Financial Industry Groups Glad to Help DOL With New Fiduciary Rule

SEC: Advisor Used Social Media to Tout $500M in Bogus Securities

Videos

Winning the Retirement Game in 2012

Leveraging ETFs in Today’s Market

The Life Insurance Knowledge Gap

Keeping Financial Planners Calm, Part II

Using Tactical Investing to Boost Performance

Keeping Financial Planners Calm, Part I

Slide Shows

12 Terrifying Retirement Facts Keeping Boomers – And Their Advisors – Up at Night

The 5 Biggest Threats to Your Clients’ Retirement Nest Eggs

10 M&A Deals That Shaped RIAs in 2011

Top 12 Financial Planning Strategies for 2012

Financial Planning Education 101: 10 Standout Schools

Podcasts

Five Steps To Powerful Strategic Alliances

The Value Of Vision: Create, Communicate, Act

The Power Of Public Speaking – Maximizing Your Impact