Retirement planning

The decision to recommend that a client go onto Medicaid, the government-sponsored healthcare program for people with low income and minimal resources, is both simple and difficult.

To supplement the coverage provided by Medicare, there are a number of different types of policies are available ranging from very basic, high-deductible plans, to low-deductible, high-premium plans that cost more but provide more extensive coverage.

Retirement income planning has become a significant or core part of business for nearly three quarters (73 percent) of financial advisors, but these same advisors may be flying blind when it comes to assessing whether clients are on track to achieve sustainable retirement income.

With the need for retirement and legacy planning urgent and growing, advisors who center their practices on senior clients can do exceedingly well.

Advisors may say they're comfortable developing retirement income strategies -- but none seem to agree on the right way to create an income stream.

In some instances it makes sense for clients to start collecting their Social Security benefits before they reach full retirement age.

Patience is prudent when it comes to Social Security.

How do Americans stack up with the rest of the world in terms of their retirement readiness? Not that well, according to a new report from HSBC.

While the coming fiscal debate looms in the background -- along with probable accompanying market volatility -- there are a number of other possible legislative and regulatory items that also affect the insurance and advisory industry.

Despite a tarnished reputation, annuities make sense for some clients. Even so, advisors highlight some of the biggest challenges they face in using annuities for clients.

Nearly one in five working-age Americans (18%) believe they will never be able to retire, more than the 12% who said so globally.

The Logic Behind Annuities

ManulifeInvestments has launched Manulife RetirementPlus, designed for people who are between five and 15 years from retirement.

Although Annapolis, Md., advisor Mike Scarborough's traditional services have long included investment management, retirement income management, estate planning and risk management, Scarborough says it was his focus on 401(k) and 403(b) savings plan management services (for clients participating in company-sponsored retirement plans) that helped set his firm apart.

Self-Insuring for Long-Term Care

Aging retirees are posing new challenges for the planners who council them.

Advisors have to get past clients’ reluctance to discuss issues related to illness and death.

Advising clients to purchase long-term care insurance isn’t the no-brainer it used be.

Low rates and longer lives make the conventional wisdom of 4% withdrawal rates obsolete.

Unexpected pitfalls often cast a pall on clients’ dreams of retiring to foreign lands.