401(k) fees and disclosure, fiduciary rules, mutual funds, Social Security, retirement planning.
171 articles · page 2 of 9
As they have for decades, Americans are having an increasingly difficult time preparing for retirement. As numerous studies have shown, the American workforce, now neatly divided into Gen Xers, Millennials and Baby Boomers, all say they cannot save enough for retirement. Workers are burdened with student debt, home repairs, credit card debt, monthly…
In a short but illustrative “thought leadership” report from Prudential, the $1.4 trillion asset insurance and retirement planning firm, three significant sources of financial stress were identified as affecting the future financial security of millions of retirees. The report, Preparing for Longevity: Overcoming Financial Wellness Challenges, is part of a series on…
What happens when you are retired and bored with playing cards, pickleball, or golf and going for coffee but have an active mind? Then, you remember that in your previous professional life, you saw illegal business behavior. Maybe you saw suspect transactions or met clients who worked in the gray area of…
Political commentators and the financial media are breathless over the latest economic numbers showing the lowest jobless rate in 49 years. Still, there is a big problem: These are quarterly, short-term numbers, and they do not indicate the financial health of the average American. If they had had a direct impact,…
The concert was a success, but the audience had died. Trying to recapture any piece of your past is a futile activity. We can learn from our pasts, but it cannot be recreated. You will be disappointed if you try to recapture any part of your memories. That lesson was…
Advisors have to become more transparent and offer a more inclusive financial and life plan, while investors say they are willing to pay for advice, as long as it is transparent and shows value. Those are some of the results in an April 2019 report in The Cerulli Edge—U.S. Asset…
April is financial literacy month and it comes at a time when the average American’s understanding about the basics of investing is declining. An October 2018 study by Alliance Bernstein (“Inside the Minds of Plan Participants”) found that only 9% of workers in 2018 surveyed were able to correctly answer eight…
If you are one of the millions of investors who think they are getting more benefits by hiring a fund manager who trades in and out of the markets in the hope of beating a passive index, you are probably wasting your money. In numerous academic and real-world studies going back decades,…
Saving for retirement is hard enough, but now, the big guys in the financial services industry continue to add more barriers to make it harder for average Americans to implement a successful retirement strategy. The latest examples include more lawsuits, regulatory challenges, and lobbying against adopting pro-investor advisory models that force…
Most investors take it for granted that the emphasis on low fees and the benefits of index funds and passive investing were always part of the everyday investment options available to average investors. But that is a mistake. The impetus behind all of these pro-investor products and strategies were driven by the vision…
Going to college used to be affordable, but the modern economy and rising expenses of advanced education have changed dramatically enough to make college tuition an exorbitant burden. Today, about 70% of all students in the U.S. have some college tuition debt and the numbers below show the extent of the problem: A…
On Oct. 16, 2018, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that due to an increased federal budget deficit, Republicans would have to reduce and alter some critical Social Security and Medicare provisions. In his announcement, McConnell said the only way to minimize the record-high federal deficit would be to cut entitlement…
The scandals, Russian collusion investigation, self-dealing financial transactions, mismanagement, insults to women, attacks on abortion rights, and people of color are all trademarks of any possible Donald Trump administration as they continue to inflame the electorate. But, the one thing that crosses all social-economic and political boundaries is an 89-year-old benefit that is now under…
Politicians and average citizens do not typically discuss the unfunded liability of public pension funds, but they should. That’s because unfunded pension liabilities affect the fiscal stability of entire states and millions of public employees, from teachers and firemen to city hall secretaries and anyone who works for state and county governments.
The recent decision by Fidelity Investment to not charge fees for certain index funds through its Fidelity Zero Total Market Index Fund for US stocks and the Fidelity Zero International Fund for stocks outside the U.S. raises some critical questions for advisors and investors. The main question is: Now that more investment products (ETFs and…
Retirement and financial security are issues that are not often discussed by the general news media and most politicians (except Progressives), but these are major events affecting people worldwide. In the U.S., here are some retirement-related news events worth noting: Americans Not Saving Enough for Retirement; 40% Have Saved Nothing A new study by Fidelity…
The level of bankruptcies affecting Americans aged 55 to 74 is increasing and it’s just another example of how poor retirement alternatives, rising health care expenses, combined with low savings levels are all making the retirement crisis even more dire. A new report by the Consumer Bankruptcy Project found that “the…
Have you just become eligible with Medicare and don’t know how this federal medical benefit system works? If so, you are in the right place. Here is a new guide to Medicare from some good people in Texas who believe in Medicare unlike many of their elected representatives. They got together to put this introductory…
Taking advantage of a stranger is bad enough, but what happens when a large financial firm knowingly takes advantage of its employees? And to make matters worse, what happens when the employees are disadvantaged by their employers in their 401(k) plans? You would think this is a rare event, but unfortunately, it happens more often…
October 19, 2017 marks the 30th anniversary of the worst single day stock market decline in history, an unprecedented event saw the S&P 500 stock index fall by 23% and sent a shock wave which roiled international financial markets for two years. Yet despite the severity, traders and researchers have never agreed on a…
