While the primary casualty of the fiduciary rule – which began to take effect in June – is intended to be conflicts of interest on the part of financial advisers when it comes to their clients’ retirement accounts, today’s article identifies another potential casualty of the rule: the number of mutual funds offered by brokerage firms as they seek to…
A significant percentage of Americans are not saving enough (or at all) for retirement – and the U.S. government seems to be doing everything it can to exacerbate this problem. The latest example of this is the Treasury Department’s canceling of the Obama-era myRA program for individuals who did not have access to a 401(k) or other retirement plan at…
For diligent retirement savers, the author of today’s article doesn’t see investing in large-cap stocks – with their maturity and predictable cash flows – as being a bad plan. However, for the large segment of Americans who are either behind on saving for retirement (or have no retirement savings at all), he points to small-cap stocks as being “the best…
Are you unknowingly passing up a tax credit from Uncle Sam that could help you pad your retirement account? Today’s article highlights a special tax break aimed at helping those with modest income save for retirement, but one expert cited notes that “only an estimated one out of four people who could get money from the credit are getting it….”…
In this case a race to the bottom is a good thing: In an effort to attract new customers and increase market share in an extremely competitive business, mutual fund companies are battling it out for who can offer the lowest-cost ETF – and the resultant rock-bottom fees are great news for retirement savers. The author of today’s article highlights…
In some (rare) positive retirement news, Wells Fargo’s 2016 retirement study found that the average 401(k) balance is at a new high – $92,000. So, with Americans looking to improve their financial futures and steering more dollars into their retirement accounts, how should they be investing these additional funds? In aggressive stock plans? Conservative bond funds? Low-cost index funds? To…
How much do you need to save in order to fund your desired standard of living in retirement? More than you think, according to a new study. Dramatically more. The reasons for this gap between the rates at which Americans are saving for retirement and the rates at which they should be saving? Low returns, longer lives and legacy goals.…
“This is a big deal and it will help a lot of people,” declares a certified public accountant in today’s article on the Internal Revenue Service’s easing of a rule that previously had retirement savers who exceeded the 60-day window for IRA rollovers face substantial taxes and penalties. Under the new relaxed guidance, retirement savers who do not roll over…