Retirement planning

Fidelity Investments racked up defined contribution commitments in the first half of the year totaling 315,000 participants, 269 plans and $17 billion in assets under administration, the company says.

While the recent FPA Convention provided some new and very interesting presentations and introduced some pretty high-brow concepts, Financial Planning columnist Bob Veres felt far too many of the presentations were bogged down by speakers who decided -- or were compelled -- to “dumb down” the material to appeal to the lowest common denominator. What did you think?

Janus Capital Group has unveiled a new online retirement income distribution tool aimed at helping financial advisers keep their clients’ retirement income evenly flowing for more than 30 years.

Janus Capital Group has unveiled a new online retirement income distribution tool aimed at helping financial advisors keeping their clients’ retirement income evenly flowing for more than 30 years.

By tapping into the psychology of why many clients resist financial advice, planners can help them conquer self-defeating beliefs that may block financial success.

Invesco has launched the PlanForward Consulting Series, aimed at helping 401(k) advisors and consultants “build a compelling value proposition and enhance their brand recognition.”

GuidedChoice has created a retirement plan “reality check” for participants to see how well prepared they are for retirement and how much income their savings will produce. The program also guides them to save more and offers access to professional advice.

President Obama announces a sweeping long-term deficit reduction plan that includes a proposal calling on federal employees to shoulder more of the burden of funding their retirement plans.

Around the time they turn 50, many people unconsciously begin to ratchet up their spending. Instead, prominent retirement planning scholar Alice P. Munnell thinks financial planners need to wage a campaign to get their clients to hit the pause button at this crucial midpoint in their lives.

Retirement planning used to be easy. Ten years ago it was a simple mathematical calculation that you could apply across the board to just about everyone. But today, with so many different visions, versions and variables impacting each client, retirement planning has become both a financial planning puzzle and an emotional minefield.

Vanguard has announced it will pursue the small 401(k) market, i.e. plans with less than $20 million in assets and fewer than 1,000 employees, with low-cost, bundled plans administered by Ascensus.

Planners can prove their worth if they find ways to lessen the chance that their clients will not outlive their retirement funds. David Blanchett, director of consulting and investment research for the Retirement Plan consulting Group of Unified Trust in Lexington, Ken., on Friday detailed how planners can implement sustainable withdrawal strategies so that retirement income works for their clients.

Long-term-care insurance is not a very popular product. It can require many years of expensive premium payments, and any care that is provided may not occur until very late in life. While the easy choice may be to not buy insurance, that may not be the best choice.

A recent survey by Putnam Investments disclosed that American households are on track to replace only about 64% of their current income in retirement -- significantly less than the 75% of income that most financial professionals recommend. To help address this discrepancy, the money management firm is rolling out a tool it says will give employers and their advisors a way to help boost employees’ retirement savings.

The Financial Planning Association kicks off its annual conference, Experience 2011 Thursday and industry professionals are sure to walk away with boomers and transformation on their minds.

Retirement programs for public employees are under siege, with numerous state and local employers either undertaking or considering massive restructuring of their benefit plans. The constraint comes as state budgets constrict and asset values drop.

At a time when jobs are hard to find and raises are paltry, employers are looking to their 401(k) plans to better serve their workers. And, according to Charles Schwab, many employers are adding plan features to drive participation and savings.

The dotcom crash and the Great Recession have taken a serious and lasting toll on the risk appetites of Generation Y, according to the latest MFS Investing Sentiment Survey. This generation, between the ages of 18 and 30, are “investing more like their parents and grandparents, many of whom grew up in the shadows of the Great Depression,” said William Finnegan, senior managing director of U.S. retail marketing for MFS.

Many financial advisors look for opportunities to win the 401(k) business of local employers because it both provides them with some immediate revenue and, more important, steers cross-selling business their way as employees get to know them and turn to them for financial advice -- especially as they retire and bring them their rolled-over assets to invest.

Just as the term "Golden Years" has fallen by the wayside, the entire concept of a traditional "retirement" may be on the verge of becoming obsolete.