Retirement planning

Many people put little thought behind even the most basic decisions regarding Social Security. A recent report called "Understanding Social Security Retirement Benefits" from BlackRock addressed many of these issues. Here are a few of the charts from that report.

Fewer retirees are expected to receive spousal or survivor benefits from Social Security and private employer-sponsored pension plans in the future, increasing their economic vulnerability, according to a new government report.

Social Security is a numbers game, with age being the key to many of the decisions. Here's a convenient reference list of the pertinent ages and what they mean for your clients.

For a high-income individual taking an unexpected hit, a Roth IRA conversion can be a smart solution.

Our IRA expert answers questions about the IRS's 6% penalty on excess IRA contributions and the five-year clock on Roth IRA fund transfers.

(Bloomberg) -- Fidelity Investments, the second- largest U.S. mutual fund company, reported a 13% increase in operating income last year as the rally in equities boosted assets.

Don't ask when clients want to stop working, instead ask what they want to do next, says one practice management expert.

The U.S. Supreme Court decision to hear arguments over Fifth Third Bancorp v. Duddenhoeffer – a case that questions whether it's prudent for companies to offer employee stock ownership within 401(k) investment schemes – will be front and center for retirement plan sponsors this spring.

Our IRA expert answers questions on maxing out contributions to 457 and SEP plans and beneficiary arrangements for 403(b) plans and Roth 401(k)s.

Advisors need to spend more time helping clients plan for long-term care and inheritance allocations before problems arise, says one advisor and author.

Life insurer will offer three funds focused on fixed income, commercial mortgages and real estate assets.

The path from administrative assistant to bank advisor is just part of Annette Martin’s story. Here, we offer more on her shift to fee business, including when not to do it.

After last month's Retirement Advisor Confidence Index suggested advisors were keeping allocations steady despite an increase in client risk tolerance, a Twitter user responded.

Seeing people come up short with the money needed for a retirement home was sad for one administrative assistant. In her new career she helps such people and produces more than $1 million a year doing it.

As lifespans lengthen and the housing market rebounds, some advisors are reconsidering real estate as a long-term investment for their older clients.

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, who oversees $150 billion in pension assets, called for expanding a ban on agents who solicit investments for the city’s five pension funds.

North Carolina’s Janet Cowell has some unusual qualities for a state treasurer: For one thing, she can say “running dog of a capitalist” in Mandarin. She’s also poised to voluntarily surrender her status as one of four officials nationwide with sole control over state pension investments.

Detroit’s pensions would get more than twice what creditors who loaned the city money for those funds would receive under a proposal to restructure its $18 billion of debt.

Mainstay Capital Management specializes in helping auto industry employees manage their retirement accounts.