Retirement

College savings funds have slashed fees this year, Morningstar reports, making them worth another look. Nebraska's College Savings Plan and plans run by Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, and Vanguard all cut fees this year.

Imagine this: An entire generation of investors has accumulated a significant amount of investable cash, but was too apprehensive of the stock market, of advisers, and of the potential costs, to know how to invest the money.

Surprisingly, most Americans showed understanding of diversification, asset allocation and dollar-cost averaging, while flunking basic questions about other financial concepts in a survey for Northwestern Mutual. This discrepancy is consistent with findings in a 2006 study.

Assets in U.S. exchange-traded funds rose to $924.9 billion as of Oct. 31 - its highest level on record - up $39.9 billion or 4.5% during the month.

The SPARK Institute has sent a comment letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission asking it to modify its proposed 12b-1 fee rule.

A new study by Hartford found that 69% of women respondents boosted their understanding of retirement benefits, up from 56% last year.

The Department of Labor’s new 401(k) fee disclosure requirements that take effect Jan. 1, 2012 go far beyond disclosing mutual fund expense ratios to cover every nook and cranny of expenses in plans, right down to indirect service providers, speakers said at the FundForum USA 2010 conference in Boston Nov. 1.

One of the benefits of the recession is that the constant coverage of the economy has brought retirement savings and retirement benefits into better focus for many Americans, The Hartford Financial Services Group found in a survey of 1,000 adults, conducted by Zeldis Research.

Average balances in 529 college savings plans fall far short of projected higher education costs in most situations, according to Morningstar’s latest research paper and industry survey, released on Monday.

Nearly 20 years after they were first introduced, exchange-traded funds remain unfamiliar territory for many investors.