Retirement

A 65-year-old couple retiring in 2012 is estimated to need $240,000 to cover medical expenses throughout retirement, according to the latest retiree health care costs estimate calculated by Fidelity Investments. This represents a 4% increase from last year, when the estimate was $230,000.

Employers and their employees hold different perspectives on how to best achieve retirement preparedness through 401(k) plans, according to the results of two newly released studies from Schwab Retirement Plan Services. Taken together, the studies indicate that, despite efforts by employers to educate workers on the 401(k) offering, most workers are unengaged and financially unprepared for retirement. CFO Research Services, on behalf of Schwab, surveyed more than 200 senior finance and human resources executives from large and midsized U.S. companies about their perceptions of 401(k) plans in the workplace. Key findings include:

Ever wonder what makes successful advisers successful? Independence and technology are the leading factors, according to four advisers at TD Ameritrade Institutional’s Elite Summit, but some of the other factors were even more surprising.

Despite taking proactive steps to keep their finances in check, only a third of American workers (34%) believe they are saving enough money in order to live comfortably in retirement, according to new research from the Principal Financial Well-Being Index.

As attention to the importance of creating retirement income grows, a new MetLife study finds that plan sponsors of the largest workplace retirement plans and their recordkeepers have taken the first steps to help participants secure retirement income — but a lot more work needs to be done to pave the way for participants to begin to take action.

It is nearly impossible for an adviser to effectively help an employer manage their DC plan without doing what it takes to make them a functional fiduciary. Realizing that many advisers, or those that were traditionally called brokers, could not become named fiduciaries, others that could do so used it as a weapon in head-to-head competition.

Despite recent tax reform proposals, experts testified at a House committee hearing April 26 that cutting incentives for retirement plans would be detrimental to savings.

A few weeks ago, my husband and I met with a financial planner for the first time. Setting up the appointment was my idea - I suppose three and a half years of constant exposure to press releases entailing Americans' alarming lack of retirement preparedness will do that to a person.

Paralyzed both by fears about the economy and long-known saving malaise, workers still aren't saving adequately for retirement. They're aware that their fear and inertia are harming their retirement futures, but feel powerless to stop the damage.

It may be a no-brainer, but savings behavior continues to be a critical factor in ensuring retirement preparedness. This is according to new research by the Putnam Lifetime Income Score, a survey of 4,000 working Americans. With U.S. households presently on track to replace 65% of their current income in retirement, a slight uptick from the June 2011 report, those best positioned for success have access to workplace savings plans, and proceed to defer 10% or more of their income.