Retirement planning

Large asset managers are beginning to focus more on providing retirement income solutions, according to survey by Hearts & Wallets of nearly two dozed large, multifaceted firms with more than $10 trillion in assets under administration.

Americans are not very confident at all that they will be able to retire, a Country Financial survey of 3,000 Americans finds.

Despite all the dire warnings from financial advisors, relatives and the federal government, most Americans still aren't saving anywhere near enough money to afford the dignified retirement they all claim is so important to them and, worse, most don't even have any idea exactly how much they'll need even if they were to begin saving today for their golden years.

Americans are not very confident at all that they will be able to retire, a Country Financial survey of 3,000 Americans finds.

Even three years can increase income by 38%

Insurance companies and investment firms offering retirement services to companies large and small are learning that attention to detail, an improved communication with plan sponsors and, indirectly, plan participants can dramatically improve their customer retention and satisfaction rates.

Every few years we begin to see headlines proclaiming the latest “New Retirement.” I have to admit there have been so many versions over the past 20 years that I sometimes get confused as whether they’re talking about the “new retirement,” the “new, new retirement,” or the “newest, new retirement.”

According to PIMCO, consultants said that active management makes the most sense for all asset classes, except large-cap U.S. equities.

Being financially prepared for retirement consistently ranks at or near the top of investors' lists of priorities regardless of their age, ethnicity, income level or gender. But this basic albeit mundane goal was largely forgotten by fund managers, financial advisors and even investors themselves in the past decade as cheap loans and skyrocketing home prices distracted many from the big picture.

Although 2010 was generally a good year for retirement plan investors, with average balances returning to pre-recession levels, MassMutual found in a survey of 1,517 participants, women appeared to become far more cautious investors—with gap in confidence between women and men widening.

The recession rocked women’s confidence in their investment decisions, according to a survey released Thursday by MassMutual.

An “onerous regulatory environment” and funding volatility have been the reasons why many private sector companies have shied away from providing pensions to their employees, new research states.

A study of Principal Financial Group retirement plan participants shows that those using an online tool save at an average rate of 39% more than other plan members.

MetLife and PIMCO have partnered to create a lifetime income solution. A client can purchase PIMCO mutual funds designed to provide inflation-adjusted monthly distributions to protect against inflation risk and separately purchase MetLife longevity insurance to provide monthly income after mutual fund distributions end.

If your clients are considering long-term-care insurance, you might steer them clear of the following typical mistakes.

In institutions where the mission, vision and values of the organization are typically set by upper management, how important is a sophisticated plan for each representative?

A MassMutual Retirement study found that women put their retirement assets in target-date options twice as often as risk-based options in the fourth quarter of 2010, while men were just as likely to use a target-date fund as they were a risk-based one.

The average balance reached $71,500 at the end of 2010.

Planning for retirement isn’t just about hitting the “magic number.”

Fidelity Investments reported Thursday that one-third of all of the Roth IRA conversions it handled for advisers and individual investors occurred in December.