A Day in the Life of ‘Day One’

To show that Prudential understands retirement and empathizes with retirees, the insurer created a series of warm, image-building ads in which real-life retirees show-and-tell their own stories.(Above, Linda Guthrie.)

The Black Box of 401(k) Expenses

The experts--Louis Harvey of Dalbar, Mike Alfred of Brightscope, David Witz of PlanTools, Phil Chiricotti of CFDD, Jonathan Leidy, CFP, and Tussey v. ABB attorney Jerry Schlichter--talk about what the 401(k) fee disclosure rules will mean.

Searching for an Oasis

This roundup of investment flow reports from Beacon Research, Strategic Insight, Morningstar and the Insured Retirement Institute suggests that investors are looking for shelter from an economic sandstorm in which visibility has declined to zero.

What’s Good for General Motors…

A month after Ford’s pension buyout offer, GM is offering some salaried retirees a choice of a lump sum buyout or lifetime income from Prudential. Both automakers took advantage of a change in discount rates to reduce obligations.
News

‘Obamacare’ Survives

In making a tie-breaking vote, Chief Justice John Roberts allowed the so-called "individual mandate" of the Affordable Care Act to stand, on the grounds that the penalty for not buying health insurance is a tax, and that Congress has the power to tax.

Plan Sponsors Awaken to Leadership Role

The newest Retirement Planscape report from Cogent Research indicates that sponsors of retirement plans of all sizes are becoming more assertive in making sure their participants will be financially secure later in life.

Poisoned Pensions

Poor investments and rich benefits play a role in state pension underfunding, but they are insignificant compared to the lack of full contributions, writes Chris Tobe. SEC and the ratings agencies have neglected deliberate underfunding of the plans, he says.

My New Baseball Cap

Jeremy Grantham and William Bernstein spoke at the Morningstar Investment Conference, and Morningstar handed out a recent study in which its analysts compared five different retirement withdrawal strategies--and chose the most efficient.