Retirement planning

The goal is to strengthen national sales.

As investors get active again, another argument against the modern portfolio theory.

Despite a jump from 2008 lows, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 1500 companies saw little change in their pension plans funded status last year, a new study claims.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Banks expect hybrid annuities that include long-term-care riders to be the next hot product on brokerage platforms as soon as product providers ramp up their offerings in this area, said Scott Stathis, Kehrer-LIMRA’s chief operating officer and managing director, speaking at the company’s Annuity Product Management Roundtable here.

Growing up in Honduras, Maria Chrin heard the story of how her grandmother, a widow lacking financial savvy, lost a large amount of money because she could not figure out what to do with the stocks her husband owned in U.S. banks.

A new survey challenges the notion that investors should load up on bonds as they age.

If the recession has any pluses at all, it’s that people now seem to be more mindful of how uncertain the market—and their future—really is.

Planning starts to replace panic in some investors’ crash-recovery strategies.

Three in 10 workers entering the work force will become disabled before retiring, according to the Social Security Administration, impacting their ability to earn an income in the near-term and significantly affecting their retirement income.

Despite a significant decline in sales in the past years, advisors and industry executives remain upbeat about annuities because the products are expected to protect principal and provide retirement income.

More than half or workers say they’re not confident about having the means to cover medical expenses in retirement, according to data from the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Total annuity sales fell almost 7% from the fourth quarter 2009 to the first quarter of this year, from $50.9 billion to $47.4 billion, according to a new report by the Insured Retirement Institute.

Mounting concern over the cost of healthcare could open doors for retirement planners.

Fixed annuities’ terrible sales figures drag down the total; VA sales remain largely flat.

A new study suggests that women have been slower to change their investments than men. For baby boomers, there are steps they can take.

The average 401(k) plan balance at the end of the first quarter was up 40% from the year-earlier period, according to Fidelity highlights from its first quarter 2010 401(k) figures.

Declining annuity premiums mean insurers may have to rethink their annuities products in order to survive, according to a report by Scott Hawkins, vice president and insurance analyst at Conning Research & Consulting in Hartford, Conn.

TD Ameritrade released a survey last week looking into how Americans define financial success. More than a third of the respondents (39%) said they define it by being debt-free. Another 29% said that financial success is being able to save money and pay for long-term goals like education and retirement.

The agency aims to rewrite the regulation over the summer.

Evidently, less is not more when it comes to investment advice in 401(k) plans.