Financial planning

While retirement confidence levels are low, employees are showing that they’re taking steps to financially recover from the 2008 recession and that they understand the importance of planning for the future, according to a new research report from Financial Finesse, a provider of workplace financial education.

Worries about the future of Social Security and Medicare, as well as the experience of the last market crash in 2008-2009 and the housing slump, have left an increasing number of Americans worried about whether they will have adequate resources to provide for their retirement years, which makes them more open to financial advice.

The vast majority of U.S. benefits managers reported that their organizations do not do enough to help employees make critical decisions at the point of retirement, according to new survey commissioned by Transamerica Retirement Management.

Our clients often ask us to define who in their organizations are fiduciaries to their retirement plans and exactly what it means to be a fiduciary. Many times, our clients are surprised by the answers that they get. You may be as well.

Four in 10 working Americans say they will never be able to afford to retire, a Harris Interactive survey of 1,005 adults for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants found.

Retirement planning is an important issue, but according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers study, many workers remain more concerned about making ends meet.

Despite the warnings from financial planners, relatives and the media, nearly two-thirds of baby boomers surveyed said Social Security will be either an "extremely" or "very" important source of income when they retire.

If anybody who had something to do with employee retirement plans needed a dose of reality regarding the level of understanding and knowledge participants had about their money, how it was being invested and what the outcomes were, a recent poll provided it.

Thirty-three percent of baby boomers are worried they won’t have enough money saved for retirement, 34% do not know the age at which they will retire, and 57% plan to continue working, according to a recent survey by the Insured Retirement Institute.

Generations X and Y are warming up to investing more than any other age group, according to a survey by MFS Investments. But they remain largely reticent investors.

Sixty-five percent of Americans do not know what a hedge fund is, according to a recent survey by Thesis Fund Management.

Even though 68% of workers are saving for retirement, nearly half (46%) have less than $10,000 saved for retirement, and 50% are not confident they will have enough money to live comfortably in retirement, a survey by the Employee Benefits Research Institute found.

With advisors and investors focused on tax season, Ed Slott returns with some quick answers on Roth IRAs, required minimum distributions and what all this means before (and after) April 18.

The stunning decline in property values across most of the country, a prolonged recession and plain-old negligence and shortsightedness on the part of American workers have all combined to make retirement more a fantasy than a reality for tens of millions of baby boomers who will soon turn 65 years of age.

Forget downsizing to a tony townhouse or retiring to a beach property in a warm climate. Clients are more concerned about having enough money for daily necessities, according to financial advisors polled by Sun Life Financial recently.

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.

More women are going to college and joining the workforce- and now women are becoming increasingly influential in the financial world, according to market research firm Mintel.

Women are closing the gap with men when it comes to life insurance ownership, but women’s coverage level, on average, is only 69% of men’s coverage, according to a life insurance study released by LIMRA.

Uncertainty about fluctuating interest rates and rapidly spiraling health care costs were cited as the two largest fears of both retirees and pre-retirees, according to a new survey conducted by the Schaumberg, Ill.-based Society of Actuaries.

The retirement conundrum of how much money is enough is an ongoing battle that impacts both men and women, but one area where men seem to be winning out is retirement confidence, according to EBRI’s 2011 Retirement Confidence Survey released last week.