Retirement planning

WASHINGTON -- The Retirement Savings Project, a leading policy research group backed by The Brookings Institution, The Heritage Foundation and Georgetown University, and affiliated with FINRA and the AARP, is advocating new approaches for defined contribution plans, Social Security and tax policies to insure Americans' retirement future.

Small employers are more likely to let employees contribute the maximum $16,500 to their 401(k)s, BLR survey finds.

The majority of dollars that wealthy investors formerly allocated to workplace-based retirement accounts like 401(k)s and 403(b)s are now being poured into individual retirement accounts, according to Cogent Research LLC.

Study finds gradual shift from retirement savings to Social Security.

While 45% of pre-retirees say they expect to rely on 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts to fund their retirements, the number is shrinking, according to a new Gallup poll.

The Insured Retirement Institute on Thursday sent a “broad, comprehensive” response to the request for information on lifetime income that the U.S. Departments of Treasury and Labor recently issued.

Retirement and uninsured medical expenses are the most pressing financial concerns for Americans, according to a survey conducted for the American Institute of CPAs by Harris Interactive.

WASHINGTON—Although some of the “most profound” proposals in regulatory reform made during the wake of the economic collapse are now not likely to happen, Richard Ketchum, chairman and CEO of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said Thursday that the financial services industry still has a responsibility to act aggressively at detecting fraud before it’s cleaning up the mess at the end.

Retirement and uninsured medical expenses are the most pressing financial concerns for Americans, according to a survey conducted for the American Institute of CPAs by Harris Interactive.

The Department of Labor announced that beginning in August, it will require asset management firms to provide further information on the risks and benefits of investing in target-date funds, including details on their glidepaths, to employers and employees.

Seven of 10 employed individuals have given up on the idea of retirement, according to the 2010 EBRI Retirement Confidence Survey.

Seven of 10 workers expect they’ll need a job in retirement; only 23% of retirees currently have jobs.

NEW YORK—The financial services industry might want to take a cue from Domino’s Pizza before declaring “mission accomplished” on the economic crisis.

Between women living longer and financial crisis, they are concerned more than ever about not having enough money to last throughout their lifetimes. As a result, more women are buying income annuities to ensure they have sufficient retirement income.

A new survey says that many Boomers will be back on the job market this year looking for new opportunities, but they will face some (younger) competition.

According to Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch Affluent Insights Quarterly survey, affluent investors have become slightly less concerned about the economy’s impact on their ability to meet financial goals, but issues related to retirement and healthcare rank highest among financial concerns.

LIMRA’s 2010 Retirement Industry Conference in Washington D.C., this week was filled with doom and gloom, despite the recent surge of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Use of target-date funds is up significantly thanks to their status as qualified default investment alternatives under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 and the growth of automatic enrollment in company-sponsored plans, according to a new Vanguard study.

While automatic enrollment is boosting target-date fund assets, plan participants are choosing them of their own accord, too.

The gap between advisors and clients when it comes to what each thinks are the risks in retirement is vast.