October 21, 2019
One of the best aspects of full-time employment is being eligible for employer-provided benefits: health insurance, participation in a 401(k) plan, and so on. But as grateful as you may be to have access to those benefits, registering for them can be a bit unnerving, too.
October 11, 2019
Parents are looking for guidance on how to talk to their children about money. Retirement Director Ben Rizzuto explains how advisors can address this need while establishing themselves as the family’s primary wealth manager – all without putting their other client relationships at risk.
September 26, 2019
September 20, 2019
September 10, 2019
How can you argue with an act of Congress named “Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement” (SECURE)? Who wouldn’t want an enhanced retirement?The SECURE act, which recently passed the House of Representatives with a vote of 417-3, is now being debated in the Senate. And at first glance, it looks great. If passed, Americans over the age of 70 ½ would still be able to contribute to traditional IRAs. And the dreaded required minimum distributions (RMD) wouldn’t start until age 72.
September 6, 2019
If you religiously max out your 401(k) plan every year (currently $19,000 per year or $25,000 for those 50 or older), it will likely grow to become your single largest financial asset. There’s just one big, glaring problem with the 401(k): The investment options are often terrible.
September 4, 2019
August 14, 2019
August 8, 2019
Global market volatility and low interest rates have greatly impacted the funded status of corporate defined benefit plans over the past decade. Particularly in the last year, wide swings in equity markets have become less predictable, making funded status volatility a greater cause for concern. As such, many plan sponsors are seeking solutions that hedge against risk and volatility while protecting any improvements in funded status.
August 8, 2019
July 23, 2019
On May 14, 2019, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing titled “Challenges in the Retirement System.” The hearing focused on a variety of issues relating to retirement security, such as increasing workplace retirement plan coverage and participation and increasing participant savings.
July 5, 2019
Save for the future or pay off debt? Deciding how to effectively use your extra income isn’t as simple as you think.We all have bills and expenses like rent and groceries that we must cover each month. That’s just a part of life. But what do you do with your next dollar after taking care of the necessities?
June 25, 2019
Age has a way of sneaking up on all of us, including our clients. Life experiences may make us wiser, but they don’t protect us from the natural decline of cognitive capabilities as we age. A proactive contingency plan can help protect clients from potential financial risks associated with a decline in cognitive health.
June 20, 2019
Shareholder activism can take many shapes. The concept is mostly associated with go-getter investors like Carl Icahn, storming into a company’s board demanding change or ousting ineffective CEOs.
June 11, 2019
Sometimes, against all expectations, the US Congress can actually pass big and important legislation. That’s certainly true of a sweeping new retirement savings bill that has passed the House with bipartisan backing. It stands a good chance of rolling through the Senate, then getting signed into law by President Trump.
May 23, 2019
The IRS recently altered course and announced that it will no longer stop employers from offering retirees a lump sum payment in exchange for their pensions. Initial reactions have been that this is very bad — comparing lump sum cash-outs to cigarettes — legal, liked and bad for you.
May 10, 2019
The rising cost of health care has been a political hot button issue for years, and Franklin Templeton’s 2019 “Retirement Income Strategies and Expectations (RISE)” survey revealed it remains a top concern today. Franklin Templeton Defined Contribution Head of Strategic Accounts Kevin Murphy and Michael Doshier, vice president, Retirement Marketing, offer some highlights from the survey and stress the importance of saving enough to meet future health care needs in retirement.
May 9, 2019
Women want more teach, less tell when it comes to retirement planning. Anne explains. Understanding how women think about investing is critical for the future of retirement. Women are on their way to holding the majority of wealth: they are likely to inherit most of the wealth transfer in the coming decades 1, they’re the breadwinner (or co-breadwinner) in 60% of households 2, they’re starting businesses at twice the rate of men 3–the list goes on.
May 8, 2019
Millennial investors were more likely than investors in other age groups to own exchange-traded funds, according to a survey from investment provider BlackRock. Among investors aged 21 to 35, 42% said they owned ETFs in 2017, up from 33% of investors in that same age group who said they had ETFs in their portfolios the year prior.
