Maine Squeeze
By merging its pension plan with Social Security, Maine could offer its public employees a more equitable deal. But can the state’s budget handle the potentially higher costs?
Where’s the Scandal?
Did the New York Fed blunder when it bought the CDOs owned by big banks and insured by AIG? So far, the government hasn't done badly, says our guest author.
Making a Case for the 401(k) Annuity
Executives from major plan providers, including Christine Marcks, president of Prudential Retirement, along with trade group officials and ERISA experts, pitched ideas about in-plan income options at DoL/Treasury Department hearings Tuesday and Wednesday.
“What Investors Really Want”
That’s the name of behavioral economist Meir Statman’s new book. We all yearn for upside potential and downside protection—and maybe a weekly Lotto ticket, he says.
Featured
Cog-nomics and B-Finance: What’s the Dif?
Behavioral finance is to cognitive economics as engineering is to physics, says the founder and CEO of inon.com, a UK pricing consultant.
Gorilla Marketing
In Manhattan and at the Jersey shore, AXA-Equitable Life staffers with a Flip camera interviewed passersby about retirement and posted the videos on YouTube. One man's retirement strategy: Meet a wealthy woman.
News
Quote of the Week
"...We pledge to dedicate ourselves to the task of reconnecting our highest aspirations to the permanent truths of our founding by keeping faith with the values our nation was founded on, the principles we stand for, and the priorities of our people. This is our Pledge to America." -- The Republican Party.
Fed Charts a Course for “QE2”
If the economy needs a second dose of quantitative easing, the Fed might try an alternative to the "shock and awe" approach of 2009-10.
Obama Signs Partial Annuitization Law
H.R. 5297, which President Obama signed into law yesterday, contained a section allowing VA owners to annuitize part of their contract without first exchanging it for two new contracts. The rule takes effect January 1, 2011.
French Fight to Retire at 60
Traffic was snarled in France's cities last week, fewer than half of the Paris Metro's lines worked normally, and about half of the long-distance trains were canceled, as an estimated one million workers protested changes in pension laws.
SunAmerica Offers Two New Lifetime Income Options
Income Plus 6% locks in the greater of investment gains or an annual income credit of up to 6% for first 12 years. Income Builder 8% locks in the greater of gains or a credit of 8% in each year withdrawals are not taken during the first 12 years.
The Bucket
Late-breaking items about WealthVest, LifeYield, Vanguard, ING, MassMutual and more...
