Retirement planning

Even if they bite the bullet and stay on the job well past retirement age and late into their 70s, most Baby Boomers and the Gen-Xers who follow them will not have enough savings to cover their basic retirement expenses and out-of-pocket health costs.

A new report from MetLife this week suggests that financial advisors need to do a better job of educating their clients about the importance of managing their emotions as well as their spending and investing behavior during and close to retirement just as they did -- presumably -- when they were younger and saving up for their golden years.

Peter Drake, vice president of retirement and economic research at Fidelity Investments Canada, spoke of five retirement risks in a speech Monday at the Canadian Institute of Financial Planners’ annual conference in Ottawa.

Fidelity’s Drake on the Five New Retirement Risks

With implementation of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act about to shower hundreds of new rules on capital markets, it's easy for other legislation to take on a cloak of invisibility.

Retirees and near-retirees are nearly panicked about their future. They fear they will live in poverty in their senior years, according to one-on-one interviews conducted with 264 Baby Boomers by Financial Engines, a supplier of automated investment advice online.

Financial advisers do their clients a grave disservice when they focus too closely on market returns instead of engaging in true wealth management, according to David Loeper, author of a new white paper called "Measuring Temperature with a Ruler: Is Your 'Wealth Manager' Really a 'Return Manager' in Disguise?" and his colleague Perry Chesney.

Poll of more than 200 financial advisors finds serious investor angst about their retirement prospects and apprehension about making the investments necessary to improve their outlook.

A new era in retirement of the unprepared is dawning, as the West’s golden age of pensions comes to an end, according to a report from HSBC Insurance Holdings, “The Future of Retirement: The Power of Planning.”

Franklyn Berkowitz is Director of Retail Financial Services at Astoria Federal. The parent company, Astoria Financial Corporation has assets of $17.7 billion and deposits totaling $11.5 billion in New York. Its 50 full-time FAs serve clients in New York City and its suburbs, an area with a bigger population than 38 states.

Marc Vosen is president and CEO of Key Investment Services, as well as the current president of BISA, the trade association for bank brokerage and bank insurance sales. More communication between advisor and client is key, he says, especially when the customer feels more in the loop.

Joseph F. Coughlin is the founder and director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab, a multidisciplinary research program created to understand the behavior of the 45 and over population. It considers the role of technology and the opportunity for innovations to improve the quality of life of older adults and their families.

Paul K. Stetter Jr. knows his clients' biggest fear is outliving their savings. Yet, the pragmatic Ephrata, Pa.-based financial advisor doesn't mince words when telling investors how much they'll need for retirement. Helping clients stay focused on saving is how the first vice president at Fulton Financial Advisors ensures he meets clients' best interest, as well as their retirement needs.

W. Scott Dixon, executive VP and financial advisor channel manager of SunTrust Investment Services, and Mark Davis, senior VP of Retirement Solutions at the Wealth Solutions Group at SunTrust Wealth & Investment Management help hundreds of advisors keep clients from losing sleep while planning for their later years. On average, retirees might depend on their investments for 20 or more years after the traditional retirement age of 65. And Dixon and Davis advise a slow, steady and rational way of helping clients invest a sufficient amount to meet their post-retirement financial needs.

We solicited opinions from around the industry with one overarching theme in mind: How can bank advisors better prepare their clients for retirement?

Divorce can have devastating financial consequences if you're not prepared.

The median annual cost of care in a private nursing home rose 3.4% over the past year to $77,745—far surpassing the $49,777 median annual household income for Americans, according to Genworth’s “2011 Cost of Care Survey.” And the cost of an assisted living facility rose 2.4% over the past year to $39,135.

Like they’ve done with every stage of their lives, the Baby Boomers are changing what it means to be retired. But unlike other stages where leading edge boomers set the path that middle and second-half boomers followed, retirement is likely to be transformed throughout the boomer generation in such a way that second-half boomers and the generations that follow will experience a very different retirement than their leading edge siblings.

And many are distrustful of unscrupulous financial services and insurance companies.

Near-retirees and retirees are very uncertain about their future, and many are afraid they will live in poverty, a survey of more than 300 Baby Boomers by Financial Engines found.