Retirement

The Federal Reserve chairman says ‘the economic health of our nation’ benefits greatly the more informed the general public is about their own financial decisions.

While most workers are not as financially sound as they should be, more are being proactive with their retirement and investment plans.

The majority of baby boomers and Gen Xers appear to be looking at their retirement years through rose-colored glasses. More than three in four feel confident they will have enough money to live comfortably in retirement, even though nearly 40% of baby boomers and about two-thirds of Gen Xers have less than $100,000 in retirement savings. Moreover, a worrisome percentage —21.7% of baby boomers and 27.8% of Gen Xers — has no retirement savings at all. The grim statistics are the highlights of a report released by the Insured Retirement Institute.

Even as market uncertainty persists, employees using Bank of America Merrill Lynch's automatic 401(k) savings plans are showing they want to stay the course when it comes to positive savings behavior, according to the firm's latest quarterly data.

As the value of alternative funds skyrockets, more attention is being paid, including by major research firms

Bank of America Merrill Lynch says that more retirement sponsors are pushing auto-enrollment and other features with proven success at getting employees to save.

Retirement plan participants who hand pick their own mix of investment options are generally exposed to greater risk, due to reduced diversification and a tendency to not automatically adjust their portfolios over time, according to research from The Principal Financial Group.

Analysis shows that retirement savings plans are seeing an uptick – even among the younger generation of workers.

Principal Financial’s annual evaluation of top companies in employee fiscal soundness has found a common link in wellness initiatives.

Americans express greater concern over the loss of employer-sponsored benefits than about being laid off in a new Gallup poll.