Retirement planning

Expected in August, the Labor Department's new draft of a fiduciary proposal for retirement-plan advisors involves taking a more "clear, direct and nuanced" approach to the education vs. advising question, says Assistant Secretary of Labor Phyllis Borzi.

After variable annuity sales plunged in 2012, expectations are high for the coming years for new players and higher sales.

People underestimate the chances of dying from likely causes, like heart failure, while overestimating the chances of dying from an unlikely cause, like murder. This can cause big mistakes in retirement planning.

Deciding when to claim Social Security is one of the biggest financial decisions your clients will ever make and you need to be able to frame the discussion properly in order to help.

New skills and new training are necessary for advisors to succeed in today's market, but banks and broker-dealers have not made it a top priority.

After watching people struggle to afford a nice retirement hone, Annette Martin decided to pursue a second career to help.

As the deluge of boomer retirees begins, many have relegated Social Security to a marginal role in retirement planning. That's a major mistake.

Many people put little thought behind even the most basic decisions regarding Social Security. A recent report called "Understanding Social Security Retirement Benefits" from BlackRock addressed many of these issues. Here are a few of the charts from that report.

Fewer retirees are expected to receive spousal or survivor benefits from Social Security and private employer-sponsored pension plans in the future, increasing their economic vulnerability, according to a new government report.

Social Security is a numbers game, with age being the key to many of the decisions. Here's a convenient reference list of the pertinent ages and what they mean for your clients.

For a high-income individual taking an unexpected hit, a Roth IRA conversion can be a smart solution.

Our IRA expert answers questions about the IRS's 6% penalty on excess IRA contributions and the five-year clock on Roth IRA fund transfers.

(Bloomberg) -- Fidelity Investments, the second- largest U.S. mutual fund company, reported a 13% increase in operating income last year as the rally in equities boosted assets.

Don't ask when clients want to stop working, instead ask what they want to do next, says one practice management expert.

The U.S. Supreme Court decision to hear arguments over Fifth Third Bancorp v. Duddenhoeffer – a case that questions whether it's prudent for companies to offer employee stock ownership within 401(k) investment schemes – will be front and center for retirement plan sponsors this spring.

Our IRA expert answers questions on maxing out contributions to 457 and SEP plans and beneficiary arrangements for 403(b) plans and Roth 401(k)s.

Advisors need to spend more time helping clients plan for long-term care and inheritance allocations before problems arise, says one advisor and author.

Life insurer will offer three funds focused on fixed income, commercial mortgages and real estate assets.

The path from administrative assistant to bank advisor is just part of Annette Martin’s story. Here, we offer more on her shift to fee business, including when not to do it.