Retirement

More U.S. workers with 401(k) plans are selecting or defaulting to simple target-date mutual funds, an investment strategy that took its lumps during the credit crisis, but have emerged with greater popularity.

Financial advisers have turned decidedly more optimistic about the market’s prospects for 2012, according to an SEI Quick Poll. Nine in 10 of the advisers surveyed in early February, including bank advisors, say they expect a positive return for the S&P 500 in 2012, up 18% from a similar survey conducted in mid-January. More than six in 10, 63%, predicted gains greater than 5%, a sentiment that spread dramatically from just three weeks ago.

If you're a high-ranking executive like Apple CEO Tim Cook, company stock is your best friend. He received a reported $375 million in restricted stock for 2011, one of the largest pay packages on record.

Despite evidence that younger investors are well-positioned to benefit from long-term retirement savings less than half (45%) plan to contribute to an Individual Retirement Account for the 2011 tax year, according to research.

A growing number of younger participants in 401(k) retirement plans are investing in target-date funds, according to a recent analysis. Using data from the EBRI/ICI 401(k) database, Employee Benefit Research Institute finds that the percentage of recently hired 401(k) participants with two or fewer years of tenure holding TDFs jumped from 43.6% in 2008 to 46.6% in 2009 increasing slightly to 47.6% in 2010. …

While many employees and retirees hope to stretch their 401(k) plans well beyond their original purpose, 84% of polled executives responsible for such plans say only some or very few employees will be financially prepared for retirement, a new Deloitte survey says.

A growing number of recently hired participants in 401(k) retirement plans, particularly those in their 20s, are investing in target-date funds, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Big shifts may be coming in how retirement plans are managed after the the Labor Department Thursday announced the final version of its rules under Section 408(b)(2) of ERISA, which require broker dealers disclose their services and fees to plan sponsors for individual plans.

The U.S. Labor Department has removed a controversial part of its proposed 401(k) fee disclosure rule that would have required retirement plan providers to create a summary document, or "roadmap," of all their fees for employers.

With tuition costs on the rise, employees looking for ways to pay for their children's college education can save with 529 plans, a tax-advantaged savings plan that encourages parents or guardians to save for a child's college education. Phil Chandler, a financial adviser for Edward Jones, says the tax-free gains feature is the primary driving force behind the popularity of 529s. Previous products did not allow this aspect to be used for higher education.