Wealth management

Employer matches aren’t as strong an inducement to get employees into the 401(k) plan as you might think, according to Brigitte Madrian, professor of public policy and corporate management in the Aetna Chair at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

The health care trust affiliated with the United Auto Workers named a former Stanford University official and Hewlett-Packard Co executive to manage its $54 billion in assets earmarked for retiree medical benefits.

Advisers are more committed than ever to helping clients with their retirement income planning, but they face a host of challenges, including not knowing where to go to build their knowledge of retirement planning.

Even with women making great strides in workplace parity and achieving greater financial independence, they continue to lag behind men in many key areas of financial planning.

I turned 55 on July 2. As a member of the Baby Boom generation who hopes he’s aging like a fine wine and not turning into vinegar, I abhor the idea of losing money again in a 2008-style meltdown.

Individuals planning for retirement are increasing their diversification and turning to professional managers for help, according to a study by Vanguard.

Congress has approved a pension stabilization provision that is expected to give employers a more historically accurate and less volatile method of achieving full funding, but defined benefit plan sponsors also face an additional $9 billion in PBGC premiums.

This summer, thousands of employees will be improving their financial knowledge and pitting their know-how against others in the first Employee Benefit News Financial Fitness Challenge.

At least once a year plan sponsors and/or other plan fiduciaries should take a critical look at their investment fund lineups. Eight items that are normally considered in a review include:

Employee Benefit News and the Personal Financial Employee Education Foundation wish to help employers share benefit sponsorship information and core beliefs about financial education with a new survey and upcoming networking opportunities.

Whether it’s about how they spend money or how they spend a Friday night, if you ask three generations of a family the same question, you probably will not hear the same answer. Those generational differences can also crop up in retirement attitudes and planning, according to a survey by U.S. Trust

There are few guarantees in life, and the ones there are - like death and taxes - aren't very appealing. What does appeal to most Americans, on the other hand, is the guarantee of a secure retirement. However, as retirement confidence surveys and savings rates continue to show, a financially sound retirement is not yet a reality for many U.S. workers. Christine Marcks, president of Prudential Retirement, believes that annuities can bring the retirement guarantee that Americans desperately want and deserve. In this exclusive interview with EBN, Marcks lays out her reasons for championing annuities and how to expand their reach within workplace retirement plans.

A 65-year-old couple retiring in 2012 is estimated to need $240,000 to cover medical expenses throughout retirement, according to the latest retiree health care costs estimate calculated by Fidelity Investments. This represents a 4% increase from last year, when the estimate was $230,000.

Employers and their employees hold different perspectives on how to best achieve retirement preparedness through 401(k) plans, according to the results of two newly released studies from Schwab Retirement Plan Services. Taken together, the studies indicate that, despite efforts by employers to educate workers on the 401(k) offering, most workers are unengaged and financially unprepared for retirement. CFO Research Services, on behalf of Schwab, surveyed more than 200 senior finance and human resources executives from large and midsized U.S. companies about their perceptions of 401(k) plans in the workplace. Key findings include:

Paralyzed both by fears about the economy and long-known saving malaise, workers still aren't saving adequately for retirement. They're aware that their fear and inertia are harming their retirement futures, but feel powerless to stop the damage.

It may be a no-brainer, but savings behavior continues to be a critical factor in ensuring retirement preparedness. This is according to new research by the Putnam Lifetime Income Score, a survey of 4,000 working Americans. With U.S. households presently on track to replace 65% of their current income in retirement, a slight uptick from the June 2011 report, those best positioned for success have access to workplace savings plans, and proceed to defer 10% or more of their income.

This summer, thousands of employees will be improving their financial knowledge and pitting their know-how against others in the first Employee Benefit News Financial Fitness Challenge

Workers, shaken by the realities of the Great Recession, have adjusted their visions of retirement according to the 13th Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey released this week 3,600 American workers. It found that the majority of workers plan to work past age 65 (56%) and the majority (54%) plan to continue working after they retire. Despite workers' demonstrated commitment to saving, just 39% believe they are building a sufficient nest egg, thereby underscoring the need to redefine "retirement readiness" in a way that is better suited to these new realities.

While most retirement plan participants find guaranteed income appealing, the farther the horizon to retirement, the greater the attraction, a new study from The Hartford shows.

Employers and their employees hold different perspectives on how to best achieve retirement preparedness through 401(k) plans, according to the results of two newly released studies from Schwab Retirement Plan Services. Taken together, the studies indicate that, despite efforts by employers to educate workers on the 401(k) offering, most workers are unengaged and financially unprepared for retirement.