Retirement planning

Adam Bold, founder of The Mutual Fund Store, is urging investors to stick with their retirement goals and says that if investors choose the right mix of mutual funds, they should be able to have a happy, secure and long retirement, Bloomberg reports.

New York Life Insurance has hired 100 staff to support sales of fixed annuities through the banks, on the heels of sales in this channel increasing 130% in 2008.

Retirement confidence has hit a record low since the Employee Benefit Research Institute began its annual survey in 1993, with only 13% saying they believe they will have enough money for a comfortable retirement, and 25% saying they believe they will have enough money for just basic expenses. Those already in retirement also have downgraded outlooks, with only 20% saying they are very confident.

Suspending 401(k) matches for just one year can save most companies millions of dollars a year, but doing so can very negatively impact participants’ savings rates and long-term retirement outlook, and should be avoided, according to Hewitt Associates.

While most mutual fund companies struggled in 2008, John Hancock Funds finished the year in solid standing, buoyed by a strong first half and careful strategic planning. President and CEO Keith Hartstein recently spoke with Money Management Executive's John Morgan about the key areas that drove Hancock's record $8.5 billion in sales, some regulations he would like to see changed and his outlook for the rest of 2009 and beyond.

Without divulging the figure, AARP said “many” Americans it surveyed are still committed to saving and investing for retirement. Most respondents said that they believe the current market turmoil has slowed their retirement progress, but will not halt it.

Companies can reduce labor costs and retain key talent for continued smooth operations by considering phased retirement, Deloitte recommends. And for workers, it protects their retirement income for a longer period of time.

Guaranteed living benefits are driving sales of variable annuities, Milliman found, with 96% of those sold in 2008 including GLBs, up from 87% that had GLBs in 2004.

A last-minute Bush administration regulation that would permit advice in 401(k) plans was called into question Tuesday by a number of consumer advocates and other experts who testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Envestnet and Nationwide are partnering to offer financial advisers an array of retirement income products, namely annuities.

Healthcare costs for a 65-year-old couple retiring in 2009 would total $240,000 over the remainder of their lifetimes, up 6.7% from the $225,000 needed in 2008 and a whopping 50% from $160,000 in 2002, according to estimates by Fidelity Investments.

New York Life has added insurance to its charitable gift annuity program to make it more attractive to investors and charities like. Because the stock market’s performance has been so weak, not to mention increasing longevity, the obligation of charitable gift annuities to continue to pay donors an income for life has put undue financial risks on the charities that offer them.

It's counterintuitive-wealth managers are ratcheting up the price and providing lower returns on variable annuities. Some providers have doubled prices in the past six months, and more changes are expected.

Mutual funds have been able to thrive for the past 85 years thanks to their ability to adapt to changing markets and help investors stay diversified during good times and bad.

Instead of praising investors for making the “Smart Move” by moving to Fidelity, the firm’s new advertising campaign calls them into action by urging them to “Turn Here.”

Long live the 401(k) match. Seventy-four percent of plan sponsors who had a 401(k) match in place are still honoring that promise, according to the American Benefits Council. And 15% have either increased the match or are considering doing so.

Eighty-three percent of investors between the ages of 55 and 70 who are working with a fee-based adviser believe it’s more important for them to generate guaranteed income for retirees than to deliver above-average returns, Fidelity found.

Thinking about retirement is anything but positive and encouraging, even for those in their 20s with a 40-year time horizon for saving. Most planners recommend an absolutely ungodly sum of cash as the entry point to safe and sound years. The government continues to predict the demise of Social Security. Insurers warn about soaring healthcare and long-term care costs. And now, with the market having wiped out $11.1 trillion in market wealth since it peaked in October 2007, retiring is absolutely unrealistic for many.

Invesco's Atlantic Trust Private Wealth Management plans to take advantage of the "chaos" in the financial services industry to add assets and customers, according to its new chief executive officer.

Approximately 37% of investors are participating in target-date funds when their employer offers one, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute.