We’re 10X Too Fearful of a Crash: Shiller
The actual likelihood of an extreme crash occurring in the next six months, Yale economist Robert Shiller and colleagues found, is only about 1.7%.
The Decumulation Beat
Selling like Coldcakes
This week, RIJ features the first installment of a three-part series on the reverse mortgage industry, and why it's shrinking when it should, on paper at least, be growing....
NCAA Financial Ads, in Black and White
During the first weekend of March Madness, I saw a commercial for Northwestern Mutual Life that emphasized the importance of combining insurance and investments--and that seemed to have chosen...
Phyllis Borzi, Savior of Tax Deferral
The DOL wants the investing experience of IRA rollover owners to look and feel like the experience that IRA rollover owners knew when they were participants—an online, low-cost, education-oriented,...
Bad Apples in the Brokerage Business
A new study from the University of Chicago asserts that "some firms 'specialize' in misconduct and cater to unsophisticated consumers." Overall, 7.28% of registered brokers and investment advisors...
Mission Improbable
Economist Teresa Ghilarducci of The New School wants a national, mandatory retirement savings plan to complement Social Security--and to replace the ERISA-regulated 401(k) system. I agree that the 401(k)...
Where an Advisor Can Make a Big Difference
'When one retires now has a much greater effect on one’s retirement income, but workers lack cultural or clearly marked financial incentives to indicate when to retire, and are...
The Prodigal Daughter (and the Annuity)
An elderly woman's remaining wealth was being eroded by a feckless daughter and granddaughter. Could an advisor solve a family mess with an annuity?
The January sell-off in stocks—a delayed reaction to the Fed?
'It is possible that we could have seen outflows from U.S. equity funds in December were it not for the year-end rebalancing trend," said Alina Lamy, author of the...
Do In-Plan Annuities Have a Future?
The latest evidence of the opinions of plan sponsors and plan providers on this topic comes to us via the “2015 Survey of Defined Contribution Viewpoints,” produced by Rocaton...
‘The Big Short’ Is No Tall Tale
'The Big Short,' in which the actress Margot Roddie (above) provides exposition from her bath, is an excellent docudrama based on Michael Lewis' bestseller. It blames the financial crisis...
Damage Assessment: Who’s Hurt by New Fiduciary Rule?
Advisors who sell on commission, I-banks that underwrite securities and sell them through their own broker-dealers, and recordkeepers that capitalize on their access to participants should all beware the...
Quartzite’s Most Famous Pianist
Paul Winer, aka Sweet Pie, is a 72-year-old blues musician, nudist, used book seller and one of tiny Quartzite, Arizona's principal tourist attractions. If you visit his store, be...
Fidelity and Betterment: From Collaborators to Competitors
Fidelity Investments is testing 'Fidelity Go,' a robo-advice portal aimed at Millennials, and building a digital interface between its affiliated advisors and its clearing service to replace the interface...
Don’t Touch the Jenga Tower
Many observers think the Fed doesn’t need to raise rates. The actuary I met in Chicago this week was one of the few who believes that the Fed can’t...
Warren Whitepaper Missed the Mark
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) thinks clients should be able to see the non-cash incentives offered to annuity salesmen. It would more useful if they could see the solutions that,...
On Background: An Insider Talks about the DOL Proposal
What do broker-dealer executives really think about the DOL proposal and it's potential impact on their business? One executive spoke with RIJ recently.
The Link between Inequality and ‘Retirement Readiness’
“In North America – alone among regions – the population share of the middle class exceeds their share of wealth: in other words, the middle class as a group...
Questions for the DOL’s Tim Hauser
The DOL may believe that, by establishing a blanket “Best Interest” principle, it won’t have to pick winners and losers. But it can’t avoid picking winners and losers. A...
The DOL’s Missed Opportunity
By proposing a solution that could disrupt the distribution of financial products and deny broker-dealers a major source of revenue, the DOL guaranteed resistance. Instead, it might have required...
