How Debt Affects Retirement

“Remaking Retirement? Debt in an Aging Economy," was the theme of the 65th annual symposium of the Wharton School's Pension Research Council, held last week in Philadelphia. (Photo: Kitchen and retirement makeovers sometimes occur in tandem.)
Anecdotal Evidence

At the Morningstar Investor Conference

By Kerry Pechter
Annuity providers failed to sponsor a single booth at the Morningstar conference trade show. That's a bit odd, since they claim to want to break into the registered investment advisor market. And there were several retirement-oriented breakout sessions on the program.

Target-date CITs grew in 2018: Morningstar

By Editorial Staff
Assets in target-date strategies totaled more than $1.7 trillion at the end of 2018, with $1.1 trillion in mutual funds and approximately $660 billion in target date CITs. Vanguard claimed nearly 40% of the TDF market at year-end 2018 and held roughly $650 billion in total assets across its mutual fund and CIT series.
Vox populi

Why Capitalism Needs Populism

By Raghuram G. Rajan
'If voters in small-town America succumb to despair and lose hope in the market economy, they will be vulnerable to the siren song of ethnic nationalism or full-bore socialism, either of which would destroy the delicate balance between markets and the state,' writes our guest columnist.
International

Germany struggles with defined contribution

By Editorial Staff
Among low-income Germans, only 28% of those earning up to €2,500 ($2,804) a month were signed up for a workplace pension and just over half (52%) of those earning up to €4,500 ($5,047) had a workplace pension, compared to 71% of those earning above this level.

COVER STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

May 2, 2019

It’s No Joke: The Fed’s Comic Book is Wrong

By Kerry Pechter
The educational comic book from the New York Fed means well but perpetuates the myth that money was created in the private sector to facilitate barter and enabled commerce to flourish. History shows otherwise....
April 25, 2019

Annuities that Pay Cash Back Rewards

By Kerry Pechter
Gainbridge, a insur-tech startup, aims to sell fixed deferred and period certain income annuities online. Its sister company, Relay, uses annuities to fund cash back rewards cards. Both firms are part of Group1001 (formerly...
April 19, 2019

New Research on 401K Plans, from Top Researchers

By Kerry Pechter
Boston College, DCIIA and Morningstar provide new research on Britain's 'NEST' experience with auto-enrollment, custom TDFs and why replacing bad 401k investment options is a good idea.