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 Millennials "navigate the site and provide some advice along the way."
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 the VIA with a variable annuity with a lifetime withdrawal benefit.
At IRI Legal Conference, Lawyers Parse the “Fiduciary Rule”
The Department of Labor decided not to send an invited panelist the Insured Retirement Institute's Government, Legal and Regulatory Conference on Monday--perhaps because the IRI is party to a federal lawsuit calling for the annulment of the DOL's "fiduciary rule."
Test Your Reverse Mortgage IQ
To benchmark the public’s level of knowledge about HECMs, The American College’s New York Life Center for Retirement Income sponsored a survey that included a 10-question quiz. We invite you to take the test.
Featured
A Maserati for the Mo-ped market
Having purchased GE Capital and Honest Dollar, Goldman Sachs is poised to go down-market with retail banking, lending and retirement account services. Look out below!
A Quiet Winter for Variable Annuities: Morningstar
'A quiet quarter is not a bad thing,' writes Morningstar's Senior Product Manager in his quarterly report on VA product updates. 'It gives advisors a chance to focus their attention on activities far more valuable.'
News
MassMutual settles suit over its own retirement plan for $30.9 million
The terms of the settlement include a provision that MassMutual will not charge its plan participants more than $35 each for standard recordkeeping services for the next four years, and will no longer charge an asset-based fee for such services.
At IRI Legal Conference, Lawyers Parse the “Fiduciary Rule”
The Department of Labor decided not to send an invited panelist the Insured Retirement Institute's Government, Legal and Regulatory Conference on Monday--perhaps because the IRI is party to a federal lawsuit calling for the annulment of the DOL's "fiduciary rule."
Honorable Mention
Brief or late-breaking items from Ernst & Young, Nationwide (2), Social Security Administration, Capital One, Retirement Clearinghouse, and the Bipartisan Policy Center.
