Social Security Repair Bills, Compared by Actuaries

In a webinar this week, a panel of Academy actuaries presented their analysis of three legislative proposals now floating inside the Beltway. One raises taxes, one lowers benefits, and another does some of each.

Where investors put their money in February: Morningstar

ETFs collected roughly $92 billion, driven by a move into passive equity funds, while open-end mutual funds took in $53 billion, led by flows into actively managed fixed-income strategies, for a record $144 billion, Morningstar reported.

Honorable Mention

Retirement assets total $34.9 trillion in 4Q2020: ICI; Jasmine Jirele succeeds Walter White as CEO of Allianz Life; NY Life reports 2020 annuity sales of $13.7 billion; Several C-level management changes at Voya.

Stimulus Money and Mobius Strips

Our financial system doesn't crash because the banks accommodate the Treasury's liquidity needs and the Fed accommodates the banks' liquidity needs. It works kind of like a Mobius strip.

Millennials lead in ETF adoption: Schwab

Millennials estimate that in five years, 43% of their portfolios will be in ETFs, compared to 39% for Gen X and 29% for Boomers, according to the tenth edition of the ETF Investor Study by Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.

COVER STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

March 11, 2021

How Biden Might Pay for Expenditures

Having appropriated $1.9 trillion for pandemic recovery, and with more big ideas in store, the Democrats will be looking to balance their largesse with new revenue. If you're among the "top 2%," they'll be...
March 4, 2021

‘Income America’ Offers ‘5ForLife’

'Our clients are so past proprietary solutions,” said Scott Colangelo, who brought Lincoln Financial, Nationwide, American Century funds, Vanguard, Fidelity and others together to create Income America 5ForLife, an in-plan 401(k) annuity. 'This won’t...
February 25, 2021

Beware the ‘Specialized’ ETFs

In this month's Research Roundup, RIJ shares four recent academic papers on the proliferation of ETFs, the danger (or not) of national debt, rational inflation expectations, and the impact of recent changes in RMD...