Retirement planning

More people get more retirement money from employer plans today.

Affluent Americans are so concerned about not having enough money on hand for emergency expenses that they are putting their retirement savings at risk by keeping money in low-yielding products, such as savings accounts, CDs and money market funds.

Imagine this: An entire generation of investors has accumulated a significant amount of investable cash, but was too apprehensive of the stock market, of advisors, and of the potential costs, to know how to invest the money.That is the scenario that today’s financial advisors are likely facing with Generation X and Generation Y investors, according to MFS Investment Management, a Boston-based money management firm, that released a study on 613 retail investors with $100,000 in household investable assets. Investors under age 46, or those considered Generation X, displayed a much more conservative approach than anticipated, the company said in a study released last Thursday.

The ugly truth is that more and more Americans are incurring debt with no plans on paying it back before they pass away.

According to government figures, at least 70 percent of people over age 65 will eventually require some form of help with personal care such as dressing or using the bathroom and 40% will need a nursing home. Nursing homes now cost $80,000 a year on average.

Asset managers are in a race to develop products that provide guaranteed retirement income, effectively duplicating annuities.

The optimal combination of high corporate bond yields and budding investment returns for defined benefit plans was not evident in this year’s third quarter, as pensions’ worldwide saw an “offset of strong investment returns” due to the decline in yields, Towers Watson said.

Only one in five advisors are increasing the amount of time they spend talking to clients in the wake of the economic meltdown, said Gregory Salsbury, in the closing session at the Financial Behavior in Retirement Summit in Chicago on Monday. And that's a mistake.

One critical theme running through the third annual Financial Behavior in Retirement Summit in Chicago focused on how life planning is critical for advisors that want to help clients plan for retirement.

And 38% have a target nest egg in mind.

Twenty-six percent of those between 45 and 54 are worried about having to work longer. Overall, 19% dread having to rely on others for support, and among those 18 to 34 years old, this fear rises to 34%.

How an advisor frames the discussion will determine client decision-making, said Brian Gaffney, CEO of Allianz Global Investors Distributors, and luncheon keynote at the Financial Behavior in Retirement Summit in Chicago on Monday.

Companies, employees and financial advisors all benefit when 401(k) sponsors take plan administrators’ advice.

Helping clients understand who they really are can improve their financial results, said Hugh Massie, founder of Financial DNA, during a talk at the Financial Behavior in Retirement Summit in Chicago on Monday.

Cost, confusion, denial and mistrust of providers are the roadblocks that keep pre-retirees and retirees from planning for their future healthcare needs, said Katy Votava, president and founder of Goodcare, at the Financial Behavior in Retirement Summit in Chicago on Monday.

The wide availability of data in the media and on the Internet has not made the decision of how to plan for retirement any easier, said Timothy Noonan, managing director at Russell Investments, during the keynote address at the Financial Behavior in Retirement Summit in Chicago Monday.

While concerns about not being able to pay for healthcare in retirement have abated somewhat to 23% of Americans, down from 30% in 2006, more people, 19%, are worried about having to work longer to supplement retirement savings, up from 12% in 2006, according to a survey of 1,008 people conducted by Opinion Research Corp. for Edward Jones.

Retirement is top of mind for a majority of pre-retiree Baby Boomers between the age of 50 and 60, Charles Schwab found in a recent survey.

The average account balance for pre-retirees, aged 55 years or older, rose to $211,300 by the end of the third quarter from $96,000 ten years ago.

According to Janus, the ending point of glidepath is just one of several mysteries surrounding target-date funds.