Retirement planning

The Insured Retirement Institute Friday responded to the Federal Insurance Office’s request for comment on how to modernize insurance regulation in the U.S.

This week, IRA expert Ed Slott tackles a variety of questions from investors and accountants on beneficiary IRAs, hardship withdrawals and reconverting traditional IRAs back into Roth IRAs.

The 11th quarterly Allstate-National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll found that near-retiree Baby Boomers have pushed back initial plans to retire from an average of age 60 to 66. Additionally, 68% of Baby Boomers expect to work in some form after retirement, the survey of 1,200 Americans found.

The 11th quarterly Allstate-National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll found that near-retiree Baby Boomers have pushed back initial plans to retire at age 60, to 66. Additionally, 68% of Baby Boomers expect to work in some form after retirement, the survey of 1,200 Americans found. Only 11% of current retirees currently work.

Despite the historic equity market decline of 2008-2009, most 401(k) participants earned positive investment returns in the five-year period ended 2010, according to Vanguard. In fact, the average return was 3.76% a year, not including the impact of continued contributions.

Americans of all political leanings are showing signs of increased anxiety about having enough money to make ends meet during retirement, a recent survey commissioned by the Americans for Secure Retirement found.

A new Wells Fargo retirement study focusing on affluent Americans reveals that women are much less confident than men when it comes to their retirement savings.

The new Department of Labor 401(k) fee disclosure rules that go into effect on April 1 will radically shake up the industry, according to Tom Gonnella, senior vice president of corporate development at Lincoln Trust, who gave six predictions for the defined contribution industry in 2102.

Before putting a bow on 2011, advisors and their clients should take the time to nail down these four key aspects of their finances to ensure financial planning success in 2012, according to M&I, a part of the BMO Financial Group.

This week, IRA expert Ed Slott returns to answer questions from investors on topics ranging from Medicare premiums and replacing IRA withdrawals to required minimum distributions.

Walmart, the world’s largest private employer, and Merrill Lynch, without admitting to wrongdoing, have agreed to pay $13.5 million in a class-action lawsuit accusing them of breaching their fiduciary duty to 2 million past and present Walmart workers. The suit was settled in Kansas City federal court.

Forty-six percent of Americans surveyed by Fidelity Investments cite saving more as their No. 1 financial resolution for 2012, and among this group, the median savings target is $2,400, up from $1,200 last year.

Mutual funds have a new competitor in the defined contribution market: collective investment trusts. These investments have been around for years but are now increasingly grabbing the attention of investors in defined contribution retirement plans.

Since the financial crisis and Great Recession, 401(k) plans have undergone dramatic shifts. To foster diversification and greater participation, 51% of participants in Fidelity Investments' 401(k) plans are in automatically enrolled plans, up from 16% five years ago, and 73% of the plans use target-date funds as the default, up from 11% in 2006.

Lincoln Financial Group has launched a new, $20 million advertising campaign created by Gyro of New York.

More than half of Fidelity's 11.7 million 401(k) participants are in plans that have automatic enrollment, up significantly from 16% five years ago. Furthermore, 73% of the plans Fidelity administers default their participants into lifecycle funds up from 11% in 2006.

Three-quarters of small business owners believe that so many Americans are financially unprepared for retirement that the problem has reached the level of a crisis, but only about a fifth of them actually offer their employees a 401(k) or similar plan, according to a new survey.

Nearly two-thirds of plan sponsors have changed the investment lineup in their 401(k) plan in the past year, up markedly from a mere 20% in 2008, according to the Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America.

Transamerica Retirement Services has added 38 new stock and bond options to its investment platform for company-sponsored retirement plans.

Author and consultant Keith Weber says financial advisors need to cater their messages and their services to different generations of clients who have divergent agendas but share many of the same retirement planning concerns.