Practice

Schwab Advisor Services this week introduced a new software application called LaserApp that lets advisors automatically load new client data onto 80 different Schwab forms.

Lincoln Trust Company has introduced the Personalized Expense Ratio for the 401(k) plans that it administers. The ratio is designed for participants, plan sponsors and advisers to see the actual cost of their plans without having to perform calculations themselves.

While investors feel that some cautionary fences have gone up around the industry and some are more confident about working with financial advisers, the Dodd-Frank Act has not delivered substantial changes to the financial advisory industry since President Obama signed it into law almost a year ago.

Employers are feeling confident about their financial futures and that means more new hires, fewer layoffs, and an increase in retirement benefits and reinstatements of certain benefits, according to the 12th Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey released on Tuesday.

While investors feel that some cautionary fences have gone up around the industry and some are more confident about working with financial advisors, the Dodd-Frank Act has not delivered substantial changes to the financial advisory industry since President Obama signed it into law almost a year ago.

Besides the standard questions about income, assets, debt, etc, what kind of questions do you ask to get to the core of your client's hopes and dreams? Do you ask them what scares them about retirement?

Celebrity heirs fighting over the estate is far from uncommon but it is unusual when an ugly court battle starts before the celebrity even dies. That certainly has been the case with the Dennis Hopper estate.

The incorporation of guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefits (GMWBs) into defined contribution plans may reduce the level of assets required for plan participants to achieve the same level of retirement income, according to Prudential Retirement.

A survey of more than a 1,000 Americans 55 and older found that three out of five still remain hopeful about the future and almost two-thirds say they would ideally like to remain productive and include some work in retirement.

With all the talk about Americans not saving enough for retirement, New York Life Insurance Company announced on Monday a new type of deferred income annuity that allows individuals to create a “personal pension” to ensure retirement income.