Anecdotal Evidence
In this week's opinion piece: The possibility that the DOL rule will extend to taxable accounts; Vanguard's formula for calculating a safe withdrawal rate; thoughts on recent news coverage...
Could You Be Sued Under the New DOL Rule?
'If you’re trying to get things right, our aim is to help you, and that will be true for some time after December 2017,' said attorney Tim Hauser of...
Guiding Clients Through the Medicare Maze
Medicare counseling can be an excellent marketing tool for advisors, especially those who are positioning themselves as retirement specialists. Just ask Ash Toumayants of State College, Pa.
The Cost of Retirement Age Uncertainty
At age 23, Americans would give up as much as $1 out of every $25 of future personal spending to know exactly what year they would retire, a new...
The Essence of Goal-Based Investing
Goal-based investing is more than just mental accounting that assigns labels like “house,” “college” or “retirement” to different pots of money. It's ultimately about risk management, as we learned...
AIG Tops Annuity Sales Chart Again
Eight years after collapsing under the weight of CDS losses and four years after emerging from federal ownership, AIG is again atop the annuity sales charts, with $9.78 billion...
Yale, MIT and NYU Sued over Retirement Plan Fees
The universities' retirement plans were the latest to be sued by the law firm of Jerome Schlichter (pictured at his office in St. Louis) for violations of fiduciary duty....
Great American Offers No-Commission Indexed Annuity
'The DOL gave it some impetus, but the real issue is that the markets are pretty much topping out,' said Great American senior vice president Malott Nyhart.
Advisors: Give this ‘Tilt’ a Whirl
Last month, we reported on John Walton's "tilt" method of fine-tuning systematic withdrawals in retirement. New research by the Texas hydrologist-turned-retirement income specialist combines tilting and income annuities. ...
Inside the Flight from Active Management
Nine-tenths of new fund flows are going to passive strategies, helped by a desire for low costs, the DOL fiduciary rule, and robo-advice. There's still a ton of money...
The Great Woodstock Festival in the Sky
Sure, there will be stresses to federal and state budgets as the Boomers—with their titanium hips, Van Morrison CDs and organic green tea supplements—push the envelope of human longevity....
With ‘Fidelity Go,’ Fido Goes Robo
Although Schwab and Vanguard have a head start in this space, “I don’t think Fidelity has lost anything by waiting,” William Boland, an analyst with Aite Group, told RIJ....
The Least Bad Choice for President
At a time when the country needs a smart young technocrat without baggage, we must choose between two oldsters who together carry more baggage than all the major airlines...
Off the Grid
As the DOL rule changes the role of the employee-advisor, the mode of compensating and incentivizing advisors may need to evolve. And that may spell changes in the almighty...
Great Hopes Ride on Great-West’s New Annuity
Great-West Financial's new Smart Track II variable annuity contract has four different income riders. Will it help Bob Reynolds achieve his goal of making Great-West a top-five retirement company...
A Hydrologist’s View of Cash Flows in Retirement
John Walton, a professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, has combined his knowledge of water with his personal curiosity about retirement income to create a "framework"...
Surrender to Lapse Risk? Not These Insurers
Over-estimates of variable annuity lapse rates have cost life insurers billions. A group of VA issuers is now working with actuaries at Ruark Consulting to predict those rates more...
PwC to Wealth Managers: Go Digital or Drown
'Digital has the potential to completely transform every stage of the wealth management journey, from how existing clients are advised and serviced to how prospective clients are identified and...
Robos Take Manhattan
In New York last week for InVest, a fin-tech conference, I learned that advisors of the future won't be robots. They will be less sexy: Phone reps who help...
The Cinderella Annuity
Has the time finally arrived for the variable income annuity? At TIAA, where the VIA was invented, they say it never left. New research from the TIAA Institute compares...
