Retirement planning

A troubling 72% of workers age 60 or older are putting off retirement because they say they don’t have enough funds, according to a survey of 700 people that Harris Interactive conducted on behalf of CareerBuilder.

Aging is the worst part about retirement - unless you consider the rising costs of healthcare eating into your nest egg.

Financial advisers are looking forward to 2010. In fact, 68% recently surveyed define their 2010 business mindset as one of acceleration and growth. Curian Capital LLC, an indirect subsidiary of Prudential, surveyed more than 1,800 independent financial advisers in an effort to gauge how the market downturn impacted their practices during 2009, and determine how it will shape their priorities for the year ahead.

When people are afraid, they cut back on discretionary expenses, which is how most people view estate-planning services, one expert said.

Advisors believe many Americans could need double or triple their savings targets.

Bruce Ferris, senior vice president of sales and distribution for Prudential Annuities, he has heard all the objections from wholesalers and advisers concerning variable annuities.

Vice President Joe Biden unveiled the Middle Class Task Force's new report on the middle class Friday, in which he outlined plans to offer automatic Individual Retirement Accounts to most Americans, provided clarification for giving advice to plan participants, and offered a proposal to allow plans to provide guaranteed retirement income products.

The American Council of Life Insurers is taking issue with a proposal by the White House to tax the “non-earned” income — for advisers, this includes annuity income — of people making $200,000 or more per year at 2.9% to help pay for Medicare.

Advisors spent much of the last two years telling clients not to worry about the day-to-day shifts in the market, that their goals are long-term. But are they applying their own mantra?

Although women are just as optimistic as men about the stock market, women are much less confident about their investment decisions, according to a survey by MassMutual.

Retirement plans, endowments, foundations and other large investors in North America will turn over $420 billion in assets to new investment advisors, according to the “2010 Consultant Search Forecast” survey of 70 leading investment consulting firms by eVestment Alliance and Casey, Quirk & Associates.

Can Congress really help Social Security survive Boomers or will it funds run out?

Last year, the company’s annuity sales rose 58.3% to $16.3 billion from a year earlier as fourth quarter sales rose 71.4% to $4.8 billion from the previous year.

Are recent changes to variable annuities making them harder to sell?

Only 47% of U.S. respondents were living their ideal life in their golden years.

Fidelity expects 401(k) assets to increase as more employers auto-enroll employees into 401(k) plans and utilize features that allow 401(k) contributions to be automatically increased annually.

Transamerica Life Insurance Co. has enhanced the guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefit schedule for its Retirement Income Choice 1.2 and Retirement Income Choice 1.4 annuity riders. Each rider now pays one percentage more a year.

How can advisors expect to reach individual investors when there are 76 million of them?

To enable portfolio managers of its target-date funds to respond more nimbly to extreme market volatility, starting in April, AllianceBernstein will allow these funds to move up to 20% of their assets from equities and real estate investment trusts into bonds and cash.

Contributing to retirement savings is not a strong suit for most Americans, which is why ING Group Inc. wants to make it easier for individuals to develop that much-needed nest egg.