Donald Jay Korn

For financial advisers, this is a key point to discuss with married plan participants who wish to leave their employer-sponsored retirement account to a non-spouse.

Most households should not annuitize any of their wealth, according to a study from the Congressional Budget Office.

On average, employees with both 401(k)s and health savings accounts tend to save more of their annual salaries (8.5% average annual deferral rate) in their DC accounts than employees with just a DC plan (8.1%).

“Now is the time to buy before gender rating kicks in and before the best inflation option [5%, compounded for life] becomes unaffordable or goes away,” says one expert.

“Being able to afford health care and the support I need in my old age,” had 26% of respondents “highly worried,” the most common response in a new survey from UBS Wealth Management Americas.

Employee Benefit Research Institute releases its estimate of how much money seniors might need to be confident of covering their health care costs in retirement.

Next year, the maximum IRA contribution rises from $500 to $5,500. One wealth management expert advises immediately changing salary deferrals.

The Investment Company Institute says that the memory of panacea pension plans is a myth, and today’s investors are not doomed to destitution with their 401(k)s.

Investor optimism has fallen sharply from its year high in May, according to a new poll. A majority currently fear outliving their retirement savings.

With the cost of a private nursing home room running $90,000 a year, many retirees are considering giving all their money to their children in order to qualify for Medicaid. Aside from being a serious financial risk, it shines a bright light on the lack of awareness of long-term care insurance.

“Investors are concerned about rising health care costs, and they should be,” says one expert with T. Rowe Price, noting that medical expenses topped a list of surveyed respondents’ recent concerns.

Retirees can expect to pay a greater share of health care costs out of pocket, benefits industry report states.

Starting next year, PPACA will lead to a 3.8% surtax on many people’s investment income, but there are ways around it.

Long-term care and outliving their money are major concerns for today’s seniors, according to a recent survey, but PPACA and the upcoming election has particularly elevated their concern over the primary source of their health care coverage.

Recent data indicates that 401(k)s and other DC plans account for more than 60% of families’ total financial assets.

Roth IRAs appeal most to the youngest and oldest investors, according to Fidelity, their No. 1 provider, which also reports an “across the board” investment know-how hunger.

Lifetime solutions should be coming soon as more annuities find their way into defined contribution plans, often via target date funds.

Planners have been hearing about and preparing for the baby boom ever since the first 1946er became a client. Yet their single-minded focus on boomers may mean they've missed another demographic trend: the singles surge.