A Fintech Fix for the Small Plan Cost-Crisis

'We’re offering to clean house in a very fragmented broker market,' said Shin Inoue, CEO of ForUsAll, a turnkey 401(k) provider. Founded in 2014 by three former Financial Engines executives, ForUsAll has received $34 million in private equity financing.

Bond Market Frets Over Treasury Supply

By Stephen Slifer
'Without wanting to be unduly alarmist, the U.S. has a debt problem,' writes our guest columnist regarding the roots of recent market volatility. 'And that is not going to change under this president. Any effort to reign in government spending is years down the road.'

Flight to passive funds continued in January: Morningstar

By Editorial Staff
State Street enjoyed a second month of double-digit billion-dollar flows and almost caught up with Vanguard in terms of passive flows. Their flagship ETF, SPDR S&P 500 SPY, attracted the majority of the incoming money.
ETFs

U.S. ETF assets top $3.6 trillion: Cerulli

By Editorial Staff
In response to the steady migration to index funds and ETFs, “many asset managers are looking to multi-asset-class investments as a way to reestablish their competitive position,” Cerulli said in a release.

Homage to Andalusia

By Kerry Pechter
Sevilla’s residents radiated a comforting joie de vivre. That, along with the Andalusian sunshine, made my spouse and I think seriously about returning, if not retiring, to southern Spain.

If jobs were more flexible, seniors would work longer: NBER

By Editorial Staff
About 40% of retirees would work at a job that had the same wages and total hours as their last job, but a higher percentage--60%-- would be willing to return to work at a job with a flexible schedule, according to a survey of Vanguard clients.

Stock buybacks reach $113.4 billion in February: TrimTabs

By Editorial Staff
Despite the $1,000 one-time bonuses reportedly paid to employees at large employers after the passage of the new tax law, the buyback spurt indicates that the corporate tax cut may be helping business owners and investors even more, TrimTabs said.

COVER STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

February 22, 2018

Building a Personal Pension, a Month at a Time

By Kerry Pechter
Recent filings show that Prudential plans to launch a direct-sold, auto-pay, multi-premium fixed deferred income annuity called GIFT, or Guaranteed Income for Tomorrow.
February 15, 2018

Spain Looks for New Ways to Save

By Kerry Pechter
Spain plans to reduce the fiscal burden of its national pension by dropping cost-of-living increases. Retirees will need to offset the loss of purchasing power with other savings. But the DC system here is...
February 8, 2018

How to Have Enough Money for Retirement

By Kerry Pechter
More than 10,000 economists converged last month on Philadelphia (where Ben Franklin's bronze likeness idles on a bench on the Penn campus) for the American Economic Association's annual meeting. Several papers on retirement strategy...