Retirement

Major brokerage firms are taking different tacks in preparing brokers for expected new rules from the Department of Labor that will constrict their ability to advise companies on retirement plans.

The notion that you can do well by doing good is alive and well in the 401(k) and qualified plan marketplace. Advisers, however, are walking a tightrope. With a big push by the government for more disclosure and stricter fiduciary standards, broker-dealers are struggling to allow their advisers to act as fiduciaries without opening themselves to unwanted liability. Meanwhile, plan sponsors are looking for advisers who can help their participants be more successful in retirement yet limit their costs, liability and work.

As the economy starts to stabilize, retirement plan experts say plan sponsors need to emphasize certain elements of their retirement education and advice programs to get workers back on track and saving for retirement.

Only 10% of Americans with $5 million to $25 million in investable assets described themselves as “very wealthy” in a recent survey by Spectrem Group, and 28% considered their wealth “moderate.”

A MassMutual Retirement released a study that found women put their retirement assets in target-date options twice as often as risk-based options in the fourth quarter of 2010, while men were just as likely to use a target-date fund as they were a risk-based one.

M&T Bank recently released the results of a study that found that close to 80% of those who took part in a phone survey have little-to-no debt or are "comfortable" with their debt level.

Sales of annuities through banks ended the year with a promising lift, specifically for variable business.

Employees as a whole made significant improvements to their finances in 2010, despite a tepid economic recovery and sluggish rebound of job and real estate markets, according to a new study.

About 40 years ago, they were told to cut their hair and find a real job. Today, this same massive segment of the American population, better known as baby boomers, is getting another ultimatum: stop spending so much money and work even longer at that real job.

Many people who retired in 2000 thought they were in great shape: over the last 20 years, stocks returned 17.8% on average.