Retirement planning

Last week's initial public offering by the Palo Alto, Calif., company, a retirement plan advisor co-founded by a Nobel Prize winner, affirmed investor belief in a business model offering low-cost sophisticated retirement advice to individual investors.

In recent years, managers of target-date funds have made the argument that target-date funds need to take on added equity exposure and risk to see investors through retirements that could span 30 years or longer.

Fidelity plans to switch its Advisor 401(k) platform to a system where the advisor receives a flat fee from Fidelity instead of several different fees in the form of 12b-1 fees.

Although the Pension Protection Act of 2006 has gone a long way toward addressing many of the issues plaguing the defined contribution system, a report from State Street Corp. said that more has to be done to ensure participants adequately save for retirement.

Financial planners, watch your backs. Financial Engines, a retirement plan advisor co-founded by a Nobel Prize winner, completed an initial public offering Monday that blew the doors off the IPO market and affirmed investor belief in a business model that offers low-cost sophisticated retirement advice to individual investors.

As the defined contribution model replaces the defined benefit plan as the dominant retirement savings option, State Street sees room for improvement.

Buyers of long-term-care insurance chose cheaper policies and more inflation protection in 2009, according to research from the AALTCI.

More people, 69%, are rolling over their 401(k) savings to a new employer’s plan or an IRA when switching jobs, according to Charles Schwab’s analysis of plans between the fourth quarter of 2008 and the end of 2009.

The recession has crushed the “free agent” mentality that has prevailed among American workers who had freely job-hopped since the 1990s, Towers Watson found in a survey of 22,000 employees in 22 markets around the world.

More people, 69%, are rolling over their 401(k) savings to a new employer’s plan or an IRA when switching jobs, according to Charles Schwab’s analysis of plans between the fourth quarter of 2008 and the end of 2009.

Sometimes financial adviser clients become intimidated by the process of assessing their life’s goals and aligning them with their investment strategies.

Taking the retirement savings conversation to the dinner table might be just what Boomers need.

After the housing market crash, people are undervaluing the importance of home equity in their retirement savings.

The American investor is just as confused about this economic recovery as advisors are, according to data from Morningstar.

After one 2030 target-date fund lost 41% in 2008, legislators in Washington went up in arms against the fund category. One of the most controversial proposals would have limited equity exposure in such funds, but the industry fought back on the grounds the 40 Act gives asset managers leeway to determine asset allocation on their own.

Be it the dismal disappointment of seeing their 401(k) balances fall, loss of a job or a wage cut, 48% of Americans are savings less for retirement, according to a Country Financial survey of 2,340 working Americans.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the 401(k), the revolutionary retirement savings vehicle that has been annihilating pension plans, empowering individuals to take part in the stock market—and that left retirees with the misfortune of leaving the workforce in 2000 or 2008 badly off.

After one 2030 target-date fund lost 41% in 2008, legislators in Washington went up in arms against the fund category. One of the most controversial proposals would have limited equity exposure in such funds, but the industry fought back on the grounds the 40 Act gives asset managers leeway to determine asset allocation on their own.

Financial services firms have yet to create a strong retirement income plan, Cogent finds.

More retirement think tanks are getting on board with the idea of including annuities in 401(k) plans, but so far, only a handful of large employers have this as an option.