Cogent Research's new 2012 Assets in Motion study can help you understand and benefit from the rising flow of money from qualified plans to rollover IRAs.
In this video sponsored by Vanguard, Burton Malkiel, Princeton professor and author of "A Random Walk Down Wall Street," talks with RIJ editor Kerry Pechter about what "efficient market" means to him. The 10th edition of "A Random Walk" has just been published.
With the numbers of people over age 100 growing rapidly, there is an equally growing need for advisors to consider an array of retirement income solutions.
Annuity issuers are making a concerted effort to implement and promote paperless document delivery services.
A growing number of 401(k) plan sponsors, retirees, record keepers and regulators want retirees to stay in their plans well into, or even straight through, retirement, PIMCO has found.
TIAA-CREF’s TC Listens website is an innovative new medium for obtaining client feedback online.
TIPS can preserve purchasing power, provide systematic income and offer the assurance of a government guarantee for retirees depending on income from their investments.
With variable annuity sales down, firms are intensifying online product marketing campaigns to reach more prospective investors.
Annuity issuers are reaching out to non-English-speaking investors through websites written in Spanish and Asian languages, according to Corporate Insight.
PIMCO and its Allianz affiliates recently sponsored a new study, “Behavioral Finance and the Post-Retirement Crisis.” PIMCO Retirement Product Manager Tom Streiff explains how the study’s findings can foster the development of successful retirement income products.
A growing number of annuity issuers are using creative approaches on Twitter to reach new audiences online.
Many firms have launched engaging online sales campaigns focusing on the Roth IRA conversion opportunities that will be available in 2010.
Annuity firms introduced enhanced online security measures in 2009, but they remain laggards in the financial service industry.
The annuity industry has been slow to adopt social media. But given the industry’s target audiences, does it matter? Download an excerpt from the report "Social Media: Trends and Tactics in the Financial Services Industry."
Our latest research shows that dynamic displays, such as Flash interfaces, offer firms engaging new ways to present and market online educational content to advisors.
Industry Views are special reports that are sponsored and independent from RIJ's editorial content.
Wed, Jan 04, 2012
But “a number of members noted their dissatisfaction with the Committee's current approach for communicating its views regarding the appropriate path for monetary policy,” said the minutes of the Dec. 13 FOMC meeting, published this week.
Wed, Jan 04, 2012
A review of Towers Watson retirement data shows that the presence of company-subsidized health insurance for retirees encourages people to retire before age 65. Researchers wonder if elements of "Obamacare"--the PPACA--could have a similar effect.
Wed, Dec 14, 2011
Projected Social Security benefit reductions under the NCFRR recommendations are closely related to lifetime earnings, with those at the bottom of the lifetime earnings distribution largely shielded and those at the top experiencing significant reductions.
Wed, Nov 30, 2011
Noticeably absent from the DOL’s September 19th release, and statements by DOL officials, is any suggestion of a broad revision of the regulation, writes Fred Reish, the well-known ERISA attorney at Drinker, Biddle & Reath.
Wed, Nov 09, 2011
“The right to be free from federal regulation is not absolute, and yields to the imperative that Congress be free to forge national solutions to national problems, no matter how local–or seemingly passive–their individual origins,” said the majority opinion.
Wed, Nov 02, 2011
In contrast to Prudential’s IncomeFlex or Hartford’s Lifetime Income, which involve purchases of insurance products prior to leaving the plan, Income+ offers an optional “out of plan” purchase of a life annuity after rollover.
Wed, Nov 02, 2011
The Tax Policy Center estimates that the Perry plan would lower federal tax liability by $995 billion in calendar year 2015 compared with current law, roughly a 27 percent cut in total projected revenue.
Wed, Oct 05, 2011
Plan sponsors and fiduciaries have won another case at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit—the third this year.
Wed, Sep 28, 2011
The SEC enforcement staff sent S&P a Wells notice, which gives companies the chance to make the case why charges are unwarranted.
Wed, Sep 21, 2011
For retirement plans that must disclose general plan and investment information to participants starting May 31, 2012, the Department of Labor offered two viable approaches regarding information delivery.
Tue, Sep 20, 2011
The Dept. of Labor's bid to strengthen the fiduciary standard for advisers to retirement plans and IRAs became a political football. Now the DoL has agreed to revise and "re-propose" its proposal. Was the football fumbled... or stripped?
Wed, Sep 14, 2011
In this article, an ERISA attorney sets out to help retirement plan advisors understand basic retirement plan concepts that can help them develop and maintain their retirement plan book of business.
Tue, Sep 06, 2011
Concerned that your insurance company might be designated a SIFI (Systemically Important Financial Institution)? Then read Deloitte's primer on SIFIs. Here's a synopsis and a link.
Tue, Aug 30, 2011
“Medicare beneficiaries with high outpatient drug use would be most affected by repeal and would need to save an additional roughly 30‒40 percent to make up the shortfall,” said EBRI’s Paul Fronstin, lead author of the report.
Wed, Aug 24, 2011
What, if any, variable product guarantees would be covered by a guaranty association, the regulators want to know.
Tue, Aug 16, 2011
Although taxpayers are allowed to make the exchanges, they have not been sure how to report the exchanges, or how the exchanges might affect their income taxes.
Tue, Aug 09, 2011
In announcing new fund offerings for DC plans, Securian and BlackRock noted that they're trying to meet plan sponsor demand for greater fiduciary responsibility and lower investment costs.
Tue, Aug 02, 2011
Here’s an edited version of an analysis of the new agreement on deficit and debt reduction by Robert Greenstein, president of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
Tue, Jul 19, 2011
A poll sponsored by AARP and others found that 83% of Democrats, 73% of independents and 68% of Republicans favor a single federal agency dedicated to protecting consumers from financial fraud and misconduct.
Wed, Jul 13, 2011
Even in 1940, however, men who reached age 65 had an average life expectancy of 12.7 years—meaning that half lived longer than that. (Albus Dumbledore was nearly 116 years old when Severus Snape killed him.)
Wed, Jul 06, 2011
Probably, says ERISA expert Fred Reish--but not if the model is managed by a 'discretionary fiduciary.'
Wed, Jun 29, 2011
The 401(k) RFTM Designation is awarded to designees who after training and testing prove to be fluent in the language and regulations of ERISA.
Wed, Jun 29, 2011
"The market has become more of an exclusive gambling club for the very rich than a level playing field open to the ordinary investor," wrote journalist George Packer.
Thu, Jun 16, 2011
In its 5-4 decision on Janus Capital Group, Inc. v. First Derivatives Traders, a lawsuit first filed in 2003, the high court held that liability for allegedly misleading statements in Janus' mutual fund prospectuses did not extend to the funds' investment advisers.
Sun, Jun 05, 2011
Regulations should limit the creation or growth of giant financial institutions unless the “benefits to society are clearly significant,” said Daniel Tarullo.
Tue, May 31, 2011
In their attacks on retirement savings incentives, 'budget hawks' don't appear to realize that 401(k) participants and others pay the deferred taxes after they retire, albeit sometimes at a lower tax rate.
Tue, Apr 19, 2011
“This new ERISA 408(b)(2) disclosure has a bite to it," writes Louis Harvey of Dalbar in DSG Dimensions. ERISA attorney Fred Reish (left) estimates that 401(k) fee transparency rule would be effective "April 1 to July 1, 2012.”
Wed, Apr 06, 2011
The top individual and corporate tax rate would drop to 25% from 35% under the "Path to Prosperity" proposal written by House budget committee chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI).
Wed, Apr 06, 2011
Banks needed to reserve 4% for mortgage loans, but only 1.60% for mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. So banks loaded up on MBSs. A second excerpt from the newly-published "Guaranteed to Fail" (Princeton University Press, 2011).
Mon, Feb 28, 2011
In January, the ruling party suggested that the public pension should be funded with payroll deductions, and that there should be a taxpayer-funded guaranteed minimum benefit of ¥70,000 ($860) per month for the poor.
Wed, Feb 16, 2011
“We now believe plans and plan service providers would benefit from an extension of the rules applicability date,” said assistant Labor Secretary Phyllis Borzi in a statement.
Wed, Feb 09, 2011
The bill would require benefit statements to include the annuity equivalent of an employee’s benefit, while providing a "clear path to avoid liability."
Wed, Jan 26, 2011
All those who give “personalized investment advice about securities to retail customers” should put the clients' interest above their own, the SEC staff recommends.
Wed, Jan 26, 2011
Our occasional columnist explains why hedge funds are scooping up discounted claims against jailed Ponzi artist Bernard Madoff.
Wed, Jan 19, 2011
“We continue to believe [taxpayers] will realize a profit on their investment in AIG,” said Robert H. Benmosche, AIG president and CEO.
Tue, Jan 04, 2011
The agreements center on loans that Countrywide Financial, which was purchased by Bank of America in 2008, sold to the two agencies.
Tue, Jan 04, 2011
California, Florida, New York and Texas will account for 35% of all the advisory firms switching over to state regulation, according to National Regulatory Services, a Connecticut consulting firm.
Tue, Dec 28, 2010
Before the new rule, the government didn’t have a way to verify if an investor was reporting the true gain on a sale unless there was an audit, said an Ernst & Young tax partner.
Tue, Dec 28, 2010
The SEC is conducting a study, required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, to investigate the feasibility and desirability of standardizing credit rating methods and terminology.
Tue, Dec 21, 2010
Plan sponsors are required to provide participants with information about all of their plans’ investment options in a single chart or similar format, said SPARK general counsel Larry Goldbrum.
Tue, Dec 21, 2010
The payroll tax holiday alone is estimated to inject $120 billion into the economy in 2011.
Tue, Dec 21, 2010
A new white paper from Wolters Kluwer Law & Business details the elements of the law.
Wed, Dec 15, 2010
Perhaps the most pointed aspect of the bill, H.R. 6484, is its requirement that states use Treasury rates, which are historically low, to discount pension obligations and calculate funding requirements.
Wed, Dec 08, 2010
A person briefed on the transaction said it would be priced at $4.35 a share, a 2% percent discount. At that price, taxpayers could profit by $12 billion on the Treasury’s investment in Citigroup.
Wed, Dec 08, 2010
James Bullard argued that QE has no impact on the longer-run U.S. fiscal outlook and that this outlook remains very poor no matter what the Fed does.
Wed, Dec 01, 2010
"After all the talk about debt and deficits, it is long past time for America’s leaders to put up or shut up. The era of debt denial is over, and there can be no turning back," says the preamble to the completed Report of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, which was released today.
Wed, Dec 01, 2010
The proposed rule defines certain advisers as plan fiduciaries even if they do not provide advice “on a regular basis” to an employee benefit plan or to plan participants, according to the posting in the Federal Register yesterday.
Wed, Nov 17, 2010
“We won't be investing in a single infrastructure fund, though, or a single commodities fund, or a single high-yield fund until we get bigger,” said Mark Fawcett, CEO of the National Employment Savings Trust.
Wed, Nov 17, 2010
Similar to the Bowles-Simpson proposals, the Rivlin-Domenici plan would lower income tax rates while eliminating most deductions and credits. It would replace the home mortgage and charitable contribution deductions with 15% refundable credits, and cut health care expenditures by $75 billion a year.
Wed, Nov 17, 2010
The "Zero Plan" proposed by the co-chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform last week calls for the end of $1.1 trillion in tax breaks. The co-chairs would save Social Security through a combination of reduced benefits and higher taxes.
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RIJ Publishing, 4340 Knollwood Dr., Emmaus, PA 18049, 610-965-3103
Retirement Income Journal is a new online magazine dedicated to writing for and about the industry that has coalesced around the challenge of helping Americans turn their savings into secure lifetime incomes. This industry includes members of the insurance, asset management, banking, pension, structured products, reverse mortgage, information technology, financial planning and academic communities and the professional organizations that serve them.
Send editorial queries to kerry.pechter@retirementincomejournal.com.
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