With stock market volatility, which is better? Robo vs. real advisor

Our daily roundup of retirement news your clients may be thinking about.

Stock market volatility & retirement, who you gonna call? Robo or human advisor
Retirement savers will be better off consulting a human advisor than getting help from a robo adviser to determine the right investing moves amid a volatile market, according to this article from Forbes. Robo advisors offer valuable information, but this is not enough to help investors. “Only when a client feels fully understood are they able to feel confident in the financial solutions that are presented to meet their needs, and that when market volatility occurs, it is expected and okay.”

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401(k) investors stock market "correction" survival guide
Clients should remain calm amid a market correction, as the downturn is a normal event that investors should face, according to this article from USA Today. Experts say that investors, especially those who have long-term financial goals, may stand to gain from a market decline. "If this isn't a wake-up call for complacent investors, I'm not sure what is, but that doesn't mean folks should run for the hills," says an analyst.

Clients over 70? Here's their RMD guide for 2018
Seniors have to start taking required minimum distributions from their tax-deferred retirement accounts such as traditional IRA and 401(k) when they reach the age of 70 1/2, according to this article on personal finance website Motley Fool. The RMD amount for 2018 will be computed based on the account balance as of Dec. 31, 2017, their age this year and the applicable life expectancy table from the IRS. Those who turn 70 1/2 this year have until April 19, 2019 to take the first mandatory distribution.

This is your last chance ever to reverse a Roth IRA conversion
Clients saving for retirement who converted some of their traditional IRA assets into a Roth last year have the option to reverse the conversion if the outcome was not favorable to them, according to this article on MarketWatch. Roth conversion triggers a tax bill but distributions in retirement will be tax-free. However, the new tax law has eliminated the recharacterization option starting this year.

Why so many men die at 62
A study by U.S. researchers has found that mortality among seniors increase starting at age 62, according to this article on The Wall Street Journal. "Retirement could have positive long-run benefits for your health because you’re taking better care of yourself. Or it could be that, in the long run, retirement has a negative effect," says one of the researchers. "What we find in the short-run are negative consequences. For example, many deaths come from traffic accidents. If you don’t go to work, you have more hours of the day to be driving around."

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