We've all seen the studies – one seems to land on my desk once or twice a week. “Americans are living longer.” “Fewer have defined benefit pensions.” “The value of Social Security is shrinking.” “Boomers don't have enough money to retire comfortably.” “A retirement crisis is looming.” ...
Saving for retirement, and using a financial advisor to provide help in planning for the golden years, are a low priority for American workers, an annual survey by the Employee
Benefit Research Institute says today....
You have a client who participates in a defined benefit pension plan at work. She's near retirement, and needs to make a decision: take the money as a lump sum, or receive a monthly lifetime annuity-style payment? What advice should you give?...
The spoils of the 401(k) market have always gone to the large players – big retirement plan providers providing the best, most efficient plans to big plan sponsors. But small is starting to look beautiful....
Lenders hope to convince financial planners who reverse loans can be a safe, flexible financial tool for seniors. Many planners are skeptical of reverse loans due to their high fees; the industry also has been dogged lately by headlines about litigation focused on foreclosure risks facing seniors, and market exits by several major lenders....
What do you get when you splice together a life insurance policy and an immediate annuity?
A reversionary annuity. Yes, that’s a mouthful, but it carries some of the advantages of each and is ideal for certain kinds of clients.
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A fee-only financial advisor for both retirement plans and individuals, Roger Wohlner worries that target date funds—which invest in a mix of assets with the aim of reducing equity exposure as participants approach retirement—just can't do as good a job as professional advisors managing client funds. ...
You might be surprised what you find if you review your clients’ insurance needs.
Many universal and variable universal life insurance policies underperformed over the past 10 to 15 years due to falling interest rates and huge stock market losses in 2002 and 2008.
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Bob Morrison was working up a comprehensive financial plan last year for new clients when he began noticing some odd behavior. Morrison, a planner based in Littleton, Colo., had been working with the couple—a 64-year-old man and his 52-year-old wife—over a four-month period, and several conversations with the husband concerned him. ...
“We’ll probably see, especially now, clients less interested in investments and more interested in managing cash.So [software] solutions that do more than just spit out an investment [idea], but also a debt management and emergency cash reserves will be potentially desirable.”...
Many of your retiring clients have two primary looming fears about the coming years: either they’ll outlive their money, or spend too little and die before they can enjoy their money.
But for those who are in what is likely the most-common family status, there is a standard method of order and timing of taking Social Security retirement benefits which can help soothe the worry over living too long, or not long enough.
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A new survey from Boston Consulting Group suggests that although women’s share of global wealth is growing, the service they get from financial advisors is not equal to that offered to men....
It’s not surprising that most clients who are eligible to collect Social Security retirement benefits are interested in initiating the income stream as soon as possible (even if doing so is an admittance that they are officially “old”). But if clients start collecting their checks without a little advance planning, they could miss out on thousands of dollars they’re entitled to, and pay as much or more in taxes that could otherwise be avoided....
New regulation under ERISA section 408(b)(2) is expected to be released in the fall of 2010 and take effect in 2011. One key consequence of these regulations is level pricing for financial advisers (FAs) who provide services to 401(k) plans. ...
By Rich Behrendt, senior estate planner, and Blake Panosh, Insurance and Annuity Managers, Robert W. Baird & Co.
There is an alternative planning opportunity for clients who are intrigued by the benefit of tax-free growth of a Roth conversion, but who ultimately reject the strategy because of the income tax liability triggered on the full IRA balance at conversion: using the required minimum distributions on a traditional IRA to purchase life insurance. ...
Providers of income securities for retirees and those close to retiring may have their work cut out for them, according to new findings by Cogent Research. ...
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