U.S. economy faces four headwinds, economist warns
Economist Robert J. Gordon of Northwestern disagrees with the “techno-optimists” who believe that the U.S. is on the cusp of a surge in technological change. He thinks we’re already...
Send in the Robots (Don’t Bother, They’re Here)
At the "T3" financial software trade show last week, a pair of robots warmed up the crowd with jokes about the limitations of high-tech planning tools. RIJ visited with...
The Bucket
Brief or late-breaking items from ING U.S. (Voya), MassMutual Retirement Services, Securian, New York Life and MetLife.
Mutual funds gain 20% in 2013: Cerulli
With $74.7 billion, Vanguard added the most of net inflows of any mutual fund manager. Dimensional Fund Advisors followed with $22.5 billion, J.P. Morgan with $21 billion, MFS with...
Most plan sponsors shun income options: Callan
The most common reason among plan sponsors for not offering retirement income options was concern about fiduciary implications
Prudential launches new version of Highest Daily GLWB
In the latest iteration of Prudential's Highest Daily guaranteed lifetime withdrawal rider, contract owners must put 10% of premium into a fixed-rate fund. Like its predecessors, this version of...
Are You Being Served?
After my father died, I called his reverse mortgage lender and said the house was theirs. Little did I know that I'd get "sued," that the house had to...
Video: RIJ Editor at The American College
In this video, Retirement Income Journal publisher and editor Kerry Pechter chats with David Littell of The American College about opportunities and challenges that await advisers who choose to...
The federal income tax turned 100 this week
"The need to fund our involvement in World War I moved income taxes to the center of federal finances," the U.S. Census Bureau reported this week, in noting the...
Half of U.S. women fear becoming ‘bag ladies’—Allianz Life
Despite growing confidence among women, “Irrational fears about losing it all and becoming a bag lady remain,” said Katie Libbe, Allianz Life vice president of Consumer Insights, which sponsored...
The QWeMA Group inks deal with The Principal, launches annuity benchmark
Principal Financial has licensed the same RIS tool that ManuLife, John Hancock and Pacific Life have also licensed from Moshe Milevsky's QWeMA Group, which he sold to CANNEX last...
Schwab introduces all-ETF 401(k) plan
"The real question is whether there is a significant price difference between index funds and ETFs, and will it matter in the small and mid-size market?" commented Fred Barstein...
Popular FIA adds new index crediting method
The new Morgan Stanley Dynamic Allocation Index option on Security Benefit's Secure Income Annuity fixed index annuity offers exposure to a mixture of equity, fixed income and alternative assets...
MyRA Defies the Equities-First Rule
Contributions by young workers to President Obama's proposed MyRA accounts go into a government bond fund. Does that policy contradict the conventional wisdom that young people should invest mainly...
Quote of the Week
"We are undoubtedly living with many delusions that we do not even realize"--Nate Silver, in The Signal and the Noise (2012).
Flight plans and financial plans seem to fly together
It's reassuring to know that airline pilots like to think ahead, rather than wait for accidents (financial or flight-related) to happen.
Armenians protest mandatory national DC plan
Protesters have argued that people should be able to decide what happens to their salaries, and that any supplementary pension payment should be voluntary, IPE.com reported.
The Bucket
Brief or late-breaking items from: T. Rowe Price, MassMutual and TD Ameritrade.
Fidelity tops two lists of ‘top-of-mind’ retirement brands
In two surveys, Cogent Reports (formerly Cogent Research), a unit of Market Strategies International since last May, asked plan advisors and investors to name the most familiar DC providers...
Pondering the End of QE
"After more than five years, QE has arguably entrenched expectations for continued low or even negative real interest rates – acting more like addictive painkillers than powerful antibiotics," writes...
