2014 in Retrospect: The Best of RIJ
Before 2015 arrives, bringing its own urgent demands for our attention, here’s a look back at a dozen of RIJ’s best articles of 2014.
_Position: Cover
The Hidden Gold in Mid-Size Rollovers
Inspira, a $20 million IRA recordkeeper, and GuidedChoice, say they can turn small, unprofitable rollover IRAs into revenue generators for a wide range of big recordkeepers and others. "This...
Two Robo-Advisors, Two Income Strategies
Two robo-advisors, Betterment.com and SigFig.com, have retirement income generating functionalities. But are they robust enough to put an advisor with retirement income training out of work? Read and judge...
What’s In a Brand Name? Great-West Will Find Out
By creating the new brand, “Empower,” for its US retirement business, Great-West Financial resolves the identity crisis that followed acquisitions of Putnam and JPMorgan Retirement Plan Services.
Experts Assess the Latest on ‘QLACs’
Mark Fortier, Prudential's Srinivas Reddy, ERISA lawyer Fred Reish, Steve Shepherd of Aon EnnisKnupp and Jody Strakosch shared their views with RIJ about recent statements by Treasury official Mark...
Johnny RetirementSeed
Steve Vernon, actuary-turned-retirement-guru, travels the country spreading retirement planning wisdom... and promoting his books and website: "I joke that I’m a ‘one-rat’ experiment. I’m living the lifestyle I advocate....
NARPP Hopes to Do What Auto-Enrollment Hasn’t
The National Association of Retirement Plan Participants aims to boost 401(k) deferral rates through behavioral finance techniques. Despite its name, its direct ties are to plan sponsors and providers....
A New Robo-Advisor Eyes the 401(k) Space
"blooom is like a dietician who doesn’t just give you advice on how to eat. It’s like a dietician who actually drives to your store, does your grocery shopping...
A Sense that the Worst Is Over
At the IRI annual conference in this quaint colonial village, the annuity industry shared a sense that, after several hellish years, the worst may be over.
Fixing the 401(k)s’ Leakage Problem
“I think is an opportunity for a win-win-win,” says Lew Minsky, executive director of DCIIA. “If you keep more people invested for retirement, all of the players in...
The Tailwinds in Vanguard’s Sails
At $64.8 billion, net flows into Vanguard funds in the first half of 2014 were greater than the flows of the next five fund families combined, according to Morningstar’s...
Replacing Those Disputed Replacement Rates
What was so important about a tiny column of numbers, missing from Table V.C7 of the 2014 Social Security Trustees Report?
QLACs Take Flight, But Will They Soar?
Taxable distributions from qualified longevity annuity contracts can be deferred until as late as age 85. But how popular will they be, and will they be used for longevity...
Anatomy of a Success: Elite Access
Jackson National Life's Elite Access variable annuity zoomed from zero to a $1 billion in quarterly sales in less than two years. Using the craze for 'liquid alts' as...
What’s Your ZIP Code’s Annuity Potential?
IAP, a small market research firm, analyzes and compares two giant databases to discover whether a particular ZIP code in the U.S. is saturated with annuity sales, underdeveloped, competitive...
RIJ’s Annual Variable Annuity Review
Every July, RIJ assesses the VA market. This year, we look at the “investment only” or “IO” VA, the structured VA, and the VAs with novel income options. All...
Danish DC Model Draws a Crowd in Britain
Through a subsidiary called "Now: Pensions," Denmark's national defined contribution plan provider (ATP) is making hay of the UK's requirement that all British employers auto-enroll their workers into a...
Life Just Got Easier for Qualified DIAs
The new Treasury regulation on "longevity insurance" does more than promote late-life annuities. By removing an RMD barrier, it makes retirement income planning easier for middle-class people whose savings...
What’s In Their Wallets?
Vanguard inventoried the wealth and income of affluent older Americans and found that a surprising number of them are still receiving defined benefit pensions. Income-wise, Vanguard identified eight types...
Is Time Running Out on the Fiduciary Proposal?
'If it takes six months for a comment period and six months for hearings, and then time to develop a final rule, by then we’re running into an election...
