What Happened to the ‘Auto-IRA’?

By Kerry Pechter
Mark Iwry (pictured), an assistant Treasury Secretary, came into the current administration with hopes of making the "Automatic IRA," a workplace savings plan for people without a plan, a reality. But it became the subject of conspiracy theories and its prospects are now dim. Photo courtesy of the National Press Foundation.

The NEST Approach to Risk

By Kerry Pechter
“We know that there’s no free lunch and that you have to take a certain amount of risk. But we don’t want to do anything stupid,” said the head of investment policy at the National Employment Savings Trust, the U.K.’s new “public option” DC plan.

A New NEST for British Nest-Eggs

By Kerry Pechter
This is the first part of a two-part article on Britain’s ambitious national defined contribution fund for undersavers, a "public option" called the National Employment Savings Trust, or NEST.

Weighing the Value of a Variable Annuity

By Kerry Pechter
A VA lifetime withdrawal benefit—especially one with a 'ratchet'—can provide the upside potential and downside protection that many Boomers want in retirement, say researchers Petra Steinorth and Olivia Mitchell. But a life annuity offers a higher dose of "AEW."
Featured

A Flock of Black Swans

By Jeffrey Frankel
Forget the Ides of March. Beware of the entire month of August, says Harvard's Jeffrey Frankel. That's when the doctors are away and the lunatics take over the asylum.
News

Prudential Launches HD Lifetime Income 2.0

By Editor Test
Highest Daily Lifetime Income 2.0, which includes an enhanced death benefit, replaces Highest Daily Lifetime Income and Spousal Highest Daily Lifetime Income benefits.

The Bucket

By Editorial Staff
Brief or late-breaking items from New York LIfe, Vanguard, Fidelity, and National Planning Holdings.

Quote of the Week

By Editor Test
"When there are economic gains to be allocated, our political process can allocate them. But when there are large economic losses to be allocated, our political system is paralyzed. And with political paralysis comes economic paralysis." -- Lester Thurow, The Zero Sum Society, 1980.

RIIA’s Retirement ‘Bootcamp’

By Editor Test
I drove up to Salem, Mass., last week to see what the classes for the Retirement Income Industry Association's RMA designation were all about.