Financial planning

Nearly three out of five retirees say they retired earlier than they expected, according to a survey of retirees and pre-retirees conducted by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Just one in nine pre-retirees, meanwhile, is completely confident in their ability to pay for their health care retirement expenses.

Less than half (42%) were aware that that their take-home pay would decline this year due to the recent elimination of the payroll tax holiday by Congress. The awareness was greater among men.

Studying a plan sponsor with 200,000 participants and a 25% annual turnover rate, BRG found that departing employees with personalized start-to-finish help from impartial counselors cut cashout rates in half and saved an estimated $6 million in costs.

A bipartisan pair of lawmakers has introduced legislation that would make it easier for workers to repay loans or withdrawals they take from their 401(k) plans, drawing praise from the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries.

Americans’ confidence in their retirement savings remains at record low levels, according to a survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Conflicting surveys and interviews highlight the difficulty in getting a true picture of Generation Y’s retirement readiness.

Americans who work with a financial professional, had a college education and more than $100,000 in household assets are more likely to have a higher financial literacy.

Regulators should require financial advisers to give clients information to verify their credentials for advising senior citizens, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said.

The online tool, dubbed My Retirement Plan, asks people to answer questions about how much they save each month, and then projects how much income they can expect to receive at retirement.

Increased loan activity raises fresh concerns about preparation for employee retirement readiness.

The percentage of baby boomers that are confident in their financial preparations for retirement has declined over the past three years, according to the Insured Retirement Institute, and most do not expect their financial situations to improve in the next five years.

The Chamber of Commerce’s 7th annual capital markets summit in Washington, D.C., brought together leaders from the business community, the public policy sector and government to examine the state of financial regulatory reform and address challenges facing U.S. and global markets.

More than a third of U.S. workers spend between two hours and “half the day” fretting over their personal finances, according to new research from McGraw Hill Federal Credit Union.

When it comes to accessing information on financial investments, most young investors turn to traditional media, according to a recent survey.

The availability of in-plan investment advice appears to have increased. In a recent survey, almost eight in 10 participants (79%) said that their plans offer online, telephonic or in-person advice, up from 72% in 2011.

Participants using the company’s retirement app have an average deferral rate 11% higher than the average deferral for all participants covered by plans, according to a recent survey

A new survey finds that while most wealthy Americans have a retirement plan in place and feel confident about their retirement readiness, they may be underestimating how much money they will need once they retire.

The American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries is applauding a bipartisan push to make it easier for workers to repay withdrawals they make from their employer-sponsored defined contribution plans.

As part of EBN’s upcoming portrait of Generation Y’s financial planning, we spoke with a trio of young investors. Unsurprisingly, the one who’s doing the most to help her 401(k) works in the benefits field.

“We find ourselves moving — ever so tentatively — into a financial future with seemingly only one certainty: It will likely be very different than the investment world in which we all grew up,” Putnam Investments CEO Robert Reynolds said at a recent industry event.