Our daily roundup of retirement news your clients may be thinking about.
Do clients know where 401(k) fees are hiding?
401(k) participants are advised to determine the plan's investment and other fees that eat away a significant amount of their returns, according to CNBC. Despite laws that have increased transparency, many participants fail to take the time necessary to understand just what they are paying in fees, according to experts. The Department of Labor is expected to issue new regulations requiring advisors to observe fiduciary standards when providing retirement advice to their clients. --CNBC
How big a retirement fund should be at every age, according to one guide
According to Fidelity Investments, clients who want to retire at age 67 need to have saved the equivalent of one year's salary by the time they turn 30, and twice their salary when they hit 35. Their retirement savings should be four times their wage income by the time they reach 40 and continue to increase until 67, when they savings should be as much as 10 times their salary. --Washington Post
Options for funding long-term care expenses
Clients can cover the cost of long-term care through self-funding with personal assets, Medicaid, traditional long-term care insurance and long-term care insurance with life insurance or an annuity, writes Wade Pfau, professor at The American College and principal at McLean Asset Management. People who consider financing their long-term care expenses through self- funding need to determine if their financial assets are enough to cover these costs, Pfau says. "Medicaid is the main option for those entering retirement with little savings. It is also the go-to for continuing care after available resources have been depleted." --Forbes
Lessons learned from 2015
Retirement savers should apply past years' lessons when creating a risk management plan for this year, according to MarketWatch. The market volatility that occurred in 2015 teaches investors to remain calm and avoid divesting their investments. Because of the Volkswagen's emission scandal, clients should check whether environmental, social and governance issues are accounted for when financial advisers help them make investment decisions. Another lesson to learn from 2015 is that IPO is not necessarily a good option for those who want to invest for the long-term. --MarketWatch
Now's your last chance to use these Social Security strategies
As the file-and-suspend and restricted application strategies are gone thanks to a new law, clients who are already on Social Security retirement benefits and those getting survivor benefits will continue collecting their benefits, according to CNBC. Couples who are entitled to retirement benefits but one or both of them haven't applied yet may have to consult a financial advisor because they still qualify to use these claiming strategies. --CNBC
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