'The danger is that overpriced assets and high-risk loans could lose value and cause an economic downturn,' writes our guest columnist, the well-known Harvard economist.

After reading Wade Pfau's new article on bucketing, I concluded that bucketing has three flaws as a retirement income generator. It calls for equities in the last bucket, not longevity annuities; timing risk makes it labor-intensive; and it's not for everybody.

The six academic papers cited here identify several points where, even when we don’t realize it, macroeconomics and personal finance intersect.

The DOL wants your comments again. It wants to know how much companies have spent on adapting to the rule, and whether it would be cheaper to abandon the sunk costs. Or maybe it's all a charade, leading to a preordained decision.