Retirement planning

Investment advisors will play a critical role in helping the nearly 80 million baby boomers and future generations develop a sustainable plan for retirement, a pair of senators said on Wednesday.

Detroit pension officials should consider accepting benefit reductions that fall hardest on retirees collecting the biggest checks, city emergency manager Kevyn Orr said.

Advisors who add corporate services such as deferred compensation, executive benefit programs and defined contribution or benefit plans to their menu of services, serve business owners and executives better. They also differentiate themselves and boost revenue.

A quarter of households aged 50-59 are "advice opportunity" households, a new study by Cerulli Associates shows.

Efforts to curb public-employee power in states such as Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan, may embolden other municipalities, leave workers more vulnerable and prompt unions to new tactics of opposition.

CEO Laurence D. Fink, who last year said he would invest 100% of his personal wealth in equities, said pension funds won't meet their liabilities unless they put more money in stocks.

Congress decided that the program could use only one investment option, U.S. Treasury Securities which, last I checked, were still considered one of the safest, lowest-risk investments in the world.

Half of U.S. households remain at risk of being unable to maintain their standard of living in retirement, despite the surge in stock market and housing prices.

A client seeking long-term care funding may be able to get it by swapping a life insurance policy.

The mass-affluent are getting more serious about long-term financial objectives, although there is still a major gap between their retirement savings and retirement goals.

(Bloomberg) -- Illinois legislative leaders reached a tentative agreement on fixing the worst-funded U.S. public pension system and will submit it to lawmakers for a vote Dec. 3, according to a spokesman for Senate President John Cullerton. “The Senate president will be debriefing members of his caucus in the coming days in hopes of garnering support,” Ronald Holmes said in an e-mail. …

Some academics maintain that if a client obtains an immediate annuity, it pays an income stream for life and the individual is less likely to outlive his or her money. But of course, many planners often see issues with this in real-life situations.

As November draws to a close, we looked back on some of our most popular stories. Here are the month’s top picks.

In case you missed them, here are the five most popular, well-read and shared stories of November from On Wall Street.

November's hot stories were a wide ranging lot. Check out this month’s big winners.

Recent studies have found that as people age, many lose their ability to make sound financial decisions. So what can be done to safeguard elderly clients’ hard earned assets?

To jumpstart family discussions, family members should set common goals, such as saving for a relative’s college education.

Increased taxes on long-term capital gains has renewed interest in trusts that can sell donated assets, avoid tax, and pay a stream of income to the donors.

Scott Stringer vowed during his successful campaign for New York comptroller to reduce the $370 million in fees the city’s five pension funds pay money managers and consultants annually. His job, which starts Jan. 1, just got harder.

Blogger, equities analyst and CIO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, Barry Ritholtz responds to the 'counterintuitive claim that portfolio rebalancing doesn’t really work,' in a recent column by Paul Merriman at MarkeWatch.