Wealth management

MassMutual’s fourth quarter data show that the average 401(k) deferral rate for female participants was 5.38%, an increase of 1.6% for the quarter. In comparison, male participants are saving at 5.81% on average, an increase of 1.2% from the previous quarter.

New 401(k) loan transactions were down approximately 5% year-over-year, and total hardship and in-service withdrawals were down nearly 8%, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s most recent 401(k) Wellness Scorecard, released Thursday.

At least one expert at a panel at this week’s ASPPA 401(k) Summit in Las Vegas said the plans work well for people who can afford to contribute large amounts and who don’t withdraw the money, but acknowledged they do little for low- to moderate-income workers.

At the ASPPA 401(k) conference, going on this week in Las Vegas, financial advisers said that too often, plan sponsors pick their recordkeeper and then default to the investments options offered, when it should be the other way around.

ERISA plans, as financial entities, will be required to clear certain over-the-counter swaps (i.e., not executed on an exchange) at a “derivatives clearing organization.”

How many Gen X and Gen Y consumers are saving for retirement? Not nearly enough, according to industry research group LIMRA.

Rental car agency Avis Budget Group puts its 401(k) plan participants in the driver’s seat with access to investment advice.

After inputting age, income and additional retirement savings information, individuals are shown personalized scores that reflect the amount of their retirement savings as a multiple of their annual income.

“As an emerging market, DIAs have experienced significant growth in 2012,” says Joe Montminy, assistant vice president and director of LIMRA annuity research.

Investors with $150,000 to $249,000 in income are especially receptive to learning about annuities, according to a recent Nationwide Financial survey.

“Over the past few years it’s [been] closing the plan, freezing the plan -- now, we’re actually seeing them trying to shed the liability,” Fidelity’s Laurie E. Vance said in Washington.

“Those with an income shortfall are far more likely to be low-income, low-asset households, and they spend down their liquid assets at a far faster rate than households that do not have an income shortfall,” says one researcher with the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Even companies who have no interest in getting involved with a public health care exchange for active employees might help steer their pre-65 retirees toward the marketplace, experts with Fidelity Investments said Thursday.

The average U.S. balance rose 12% from 2011 to $77,300 as of Dec. 31, 2012, according to a report this month.

Those between the ages of 40 and 50 were the most likely (25%) to say they were “not confident” or “completely doubtful” in their ability to retire and maintain their current lifestyle.

More than half of U.S. Gen X and Gen Y consumers admit having little or no knowledge about investments and financial products, according to a recent LIMRA study.

The Financial Fitness Challenge is an event-driven program that provides unbiased, online, interactive instruction in personal finance and investing fundamentals. It is designed for all employees, regardless of age, education or income.

Most (91%) are confident in their ability to manage their personal finances, according to a recent survey by Allstate, even as more than 40% are living paycheck-to-paycheck.

Organizations including Berkshire Hathaway, BP Capital and Viacom all have leaders near the age of the man who decided he’s aging too rapidly to lead the Catholic Church. “It’s probably a good idea to reassess one’s ability to be in positions of power at that time,” says one expert.

More than eight in 10 married baby boomers (81.9%) report having retirement savings and 55.7% have gone through the process of calculating a retirement savings goal, compared with only 66.6% and 40.8%, respectively, for singles.