401(k) fees and disclosure, fiduciary rules, mutual funds, Social Security, retirement planning.
171 articles · page 8 of 9
In what is being called the first suit involving revenue sharing and fee disclosure and heightened transparency, a Missouri company has been ordered to pay $35 million to current and former plan participants. The lawsuit (Ronald Tussey et al v. ABB Inc. et al, Case No. 2:06-CV-04305-NKL, United States District Court, W.D. Missouri, Central Division,…
Revenue sharing is one of the mutual fund industry’s most controversial and least talked about practices. It affects how mutual funds are sold to Registered Investment Advisers (RIAs), how much compensation is paid to mutual fund wholesalers, how conflicts-of-interest are created between RIAs and their clients, how 401(k) plans are structured and what fund they…
Humility is not one of the personal traits held by many people in the investment business. This includes everyone from portfolio managers to advisers to mutual fund wholesalers. Part of this is due to the job.
Whether it is due to demographics or the dismal performance of the stock market or the weak economy, the focus on retirement income has never been greater. So while much of the media’s attention is focused on the big picture, the bulk of Americans approaching and saving for retirement through their 401(k) plans have been…
By most measures, the 2008 recession ranks as the worst since the Great Depression. Not only has it eroded the per capita incomes of entire nations (see Mutualfundreform.com story posted Jan. 27, 2012)), but it has also taken its toll on future retirees due to reduced Social Security contributions and pension benefits, accompanied by lost incomes.
It has been one year since the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) delivered a report to Congress recommending the adoption of a universal fiduciary standard regulation that would apply to retail advisers and brokers. Now it looks like this long-overdue rule will not even be considered during 2012. The average person would think a year…
While they will not take effect until April 2012, the first changes from the new DOL disclosures have already emerged, months before the new rules are slated to become effective.
If you participate in a 401(k) plan or have a role in administering one, the year 2012 will be important. The reason: 2012 is when administrators and plan participants will be discussing the little-known practice of revenue sharing and how their 401(k) plan providers charge for their services. On April 30, 2012, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) new fee…
The debate over the benefits of active investment management versus passive investing remains a favorite topic of investors. Whenever new data emerges to buttress the long-established argument that index funds, which use passive investing, outperform on all measures compared to active-funds, the strategy gains more attention.
April 2012 will be a traumatic time for many 401(k) plans. That’s when 401(k) plans will be forced to disclose the fees they pay to their plan administrators. For many plans, this will not be easy. Like a low tide, it will show which plans are well managed and which have been wasting their money on…
By Neil Plein From: Invest N’Retire, July 22, 2011 For the complete article, visit Invest n’Retire Having a retirement calculator should be a good thing. It helps to perform computations and projections that would otherwise be out of reach to the common 401k participant. The intent of calculators are primarily twofold; to help a participant…
The nation’s average retirement age is rising from 65 to 80, according to Wells Fargo & Co.
Millions of people in the first wave of Baby Boomers entering retirement face more stress than they did in their working lives. Their home equity has shrunk, along with their portfolios. Partisans in Congress threaten to cut Social Security, a key component in retirement income, along with the new health care program. And for those…
A recent Gallup poll found that 66% of Americans ranked not having enough money for retirement as their top financial concern. This was an increase from 53% a decade ago and raised a red flag for U.S. policymakers concerned about distress and downward mobility in the middle class. A recent story by Reuters found that Baby…
Call it the “Revenge of the Baby Boomers,” but the huge inequality in net worth between people aged 65 or older is now estimated to be 47 times greater than that of a family headed by someone who is under age 35. That is a staggering, unsustainable gap, which casts a long dark shadow for…
Most of the discussions about the need for greater transparency in financial transactions have centered on the need to adopt greater fiduciary responsibilities. But there is also another reason: economic. Or, more specifically, mutual funds benefit financially from the lack of transparency. When fund companies make it difficult for investors to choose…
Don’t always assume your financial planner is always working for the best interests of their clients.
A new study examining the income sources for Americans over age 65 shows more people are relying on Social Security for their retirement income, while income from jobs has remained consistent since 1962, according to a new study by the Social Security Administration. The study found that 38% of Americans over age 65 in 2009…
Senior mortgage and banking officials were never legally punished, despite the thousands of cases of mortgage fraud identified by the FBI.
One of the biggest problems facing the mutual fund industry’s relationships with its millions of shareholders is justifying fund wholesalers’ salaries. This is a contentious and sticky issue for a few reasons: First, mutual fund wholesalers really don’t add anything that directly benefits shareholders, especially their net portfolio returns. Second, maintaining a…
