Retirement planning

Lifecycle funds are now taking another punch, and while this one may not be fully merited, it is one that fund companies might want to consider as a roadmap to improving such funds' performance and marketability.

Lifecycle funds are now taking another punch, and while this one may not be fully merited, it is one that fund companies might want to consider as a roadmap to improving such funds' performance and marketability.

Fidelity Investments has a bold, five-year plan to expand its scant 8.5% share of the 403(b) market and catch up to giant TIAA-CREF, which commands a monumental 67% share of 403(b) assets.

Americans are starting to live a lot longer than they ever thought they would, throwing a wrench in retirement fund plans that they thought would last them the rest of their life.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-Alice Smith is a Power Boomer. A 53-year-old Medicare specialist with a graduate degree, Smith has amassed a stash of cash for retirement, and has a husband with his own account.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-Until now, plan providers have been slow to roll out Heath Savings Accounts (HSAs), perhaps because of murky rules, low maximum contribution levels and a seemingly limited business opportunity.

A retirement guide for women that the Heinz Family Philanthropies and the Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement issued last week brought to light some startling facts.

A retirement guide for women that the Heinz Family Philanthropies and the Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement issued last week brought to light some startling facts.

A small news item last week on the launch of a financial literacy course in the Shelby County school district in Tennessee this fall got me thinking about a golden opportunity for individual mutual fund companies or, perhaps, the industry as a whole.

A small news item last week on the launch of a financial literacy course in the Shelby County school district in Tennessee this fall got me thinking about a golden opportunity for individual mutual fund companies or, perhaps, the industry as a whole.

As the $144.5 billion playing field for target-date, or lifecycle, funds continues to get more and more crowded-last year fund companies introduced 302 target-date funds and assets soared 61%-the funds are diversifying their holdings to distinguish themselves. Others are extending their equity exposure with the goal of equipping longer-living retirees with enough money to last throughout their lifetimes.

As the $144.5 billion playing field for target-date, or lifecycle, funds continues to get more and more crowded-last year fund companies introduced 302 target-date funds and assets soared 61%-the funds are diversifying their holdings to distinguish themselves. Others are extending their equity exposure with the goal of equipping longer-living retirees with enough money to last throughout their lifetimes.

NEW YORK-When Alan Greenspan speaks, markets move and people listen. Usually.

The key to a successful marriage is communication, and planning for retirement is no exception. As it turns out, this is yet another bone of contention between husbands and wives.

Despite the warnings and the realization that many Americans know they need to save for retirement, 34% of workers are not doing anything about it, according to the 17th annual "Retirement Confidence Survey" by the Employee Benefit Research Institute of Washington.

Forget spending retirement in a rocking chair on the front porch.

Sagging U.S. and international equity markets are to blame for a 2% drop in retirement assets held in mutual funds last year, according to a report issued by the Investment Company Institute.

BOSTON - Increasingly, competing in the retirement market requires plan providers to offer more than products, according to industry executives. Providers need to market a variety of services to plan sponsors and their participants and provide guidance and information on issues that may not relate directly to investment products, executives said.

Most employees changing jobs would rather roll their 401(k) assets into another retirement investment rather than cash out of the plan, according to a recent survey released by American Century Investments of Kansas City, Mo.

The Social Security Administration has begun mailing retirement benefit statements to all working Americans - an event that is bound to unnerve individuals ill-prepared for retirement and create tremendous sales opportunities for mutual funds, according to industry executives.