The Downside of Upping the Retirement Age

By Kerry Pechter
Social Security turns 75 on Saturday, and pressure to raise the claiming age for full benefits is rising. But that would hurt the least well-off most, said experts at the Retirement Research Consortium meeting in Washington last week.

The Gospel of Matthew Hutcheson

By Kerry Pechter
The 40-year-old leader of the “independent fiduciary movement” is passionate about making retirement plans more responsive to the needs of participants.

They’re Relatively Well-Off

By Kerry Pechter
The median annual income for people over age 65 in the United States is only $18,000, including public assistance and financial help from friends and family. The average—skewed upward by the highest incomes—is almost $29,000.

On Second Thought, Make That a Single-Dip

By Kerry Pechter
Vanguard analysts put the chance of a double-dip recession at about 20%. The bond yield curve suggests only a 6% risk, but the yield curve isn't as reliably predictive as it used to be, they say.
Featured

Process First, Not Product

By Editor Test
When clients discover that products have been sold to them without the adequate use of process, some advisors will surely face a day of reckoning, says the president of The Strategic Distribution Institute, LLC.
News

Boomer Decumulation May Depress Asset Prices

By Editor Test
The problem is that the demographic group that is selling homes and investments—the postwar BabyBoom generation—will be larger than the group that will be buying the assets.

New York Life Sets Income Annuity Sales Record

By Editor Test
The nation’s largest mutual life insurer announced a record $870 million worth of income annuity sales in the first half of 2010, along with gains in life insurance, long-term care insurance, mutual fund sales.

Your Loophole Is My Noose

By Editor Test
Tax breaks, when seen as passive spending programs, are a form of government waste. So raising taxes might shrink the size of government. Or not.