Retirement

Birds of a feather flock together, and it seems the saying also rings true for small business owners looking for a financial advisor. According to a new study released yesterday by The American College, small business owners prefer to speak to financial advisors of the same sex, with men exhibiting a stronger gender bias than their female counterparts.

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.

Spurred by its $16.2 billion acquisition of American Life Insurance Co., MetLife Inc. moved into the top five while American International Group Inc. slid from third to fifth in A.M. Best’s rankings of the top 25 global insurers based on nonbanking assets.

Americans, particularly baby boomers, are more nervous about and unprepared for their retirement today than at any time in history.

The Republican Party has staged a mind-numbing 18 presidential debates this year, and more questions and answers lie ahead as the primaries and general election get into high gear in the new year.

As someone who has reviewed hundreds of retirement-related studies, I admit to being quite jaded with respect to retirement statistics: Various versions of "people are not saving enough", with no one telling me what I do not already know. However, I have to admit these figures - excerpted from pbs.org - caught even me off guard. See if you are as shocked as I was by these five statistics:

The focus of discussions in the defined contribution/401(k) world seems to have shifted overnight from process to outcomes.

For once, it’s the whippersnappers who are behaving more wisely. At least when it comes to saving, Generation X and Generation Y workers are more diligent than their peers.

The Insured Retirement Institute Friday responded to the Federal Insurance Office’s request for comment on how to modernize insurance regulation in the U.S., saying that the nation’s insurance regulatory system needs to be modernized — and insurance products, most notably annuities and other insured retirement income products, need to be made available to underserved populations.

The 11th quarterly Allstate-National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll found that near-retiree baby boomers have pushed back initial plans to retire at age 60, to 66. Additionally, 68% of baby boomers expect to work in some form after retirement, the survey of 1,200 Americans found. Only 11% of current retirees currently work.