retirement planning

Anna Rappaport is widely recognized as a leading expert on retirement systems, workforce issues, the impact of changing demographics and women’s retirement security.

Francois Gadenne is the Chairman and Executive Director of the Retirement Income Industry Association (RIIA).

Formed in 2006, RIIA is bringing together the leading minds and resources in the relatively young retirement income industry.  RIIA members include leading academics, banks, insurers, fund companies, financial advisors, brokerage houses, researchers, technology companies, marketing firms, consulting firms and media.

Is there a financial equivalent to the maxim “first do no harm?”

What if one of the guiding principles of medicine was applied to the world of financial advice?

What would the financial services landscape look like if product manufacturers and advisors were required to play by rules similar to those that exist for physicians?

First, my guess is that the financial corollary to the application of primum non nocere (first do no harm) would be:

Many financial advisors seem conditioned to wear annuity criticism as a sort of badge of honor. 

As the past couple of years have so painfully revealed, however, this conventional wisdom rests on shaky ground.

What types of questions might a client present to an advisor who appears to have a reflexive inclination to dismiss most or all forms of annuities?  Consider the following:

1.  How are my assets hedged against longevity risk?  In other words, how am I protected from outliving my money?

The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College just published a study that examines the distribution of health spending after age 65.

The results are eye-opening and should serve to reinforce the fact that health costs are one of the major risk factors for retirees.

The findings include:

Andy Sieg is the head of Retirement Planning and Services for Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Sieg provides his views on retirement planning reform in a recent op-ed piece in Investment Advisor.

Among Sieg's points are:

A recent survey conducted by Bank of America indicates that the majority of wealthy Americans are concerned about outliving their savings in retirement.

The BofA survey results reveal that 53 percent of respondents are concerned about making their savings last through retirement, and 59 percent cite healthcare costs as a major concern. 

A surprising 67 percent of BofA survey respondents said that they did not work with a financial advisor for retirement planning.

The survey focuses on households with at least $250,000 in investable assets.

BofA Merrill is focused on recruiting more of its existing corporate customers to its retirement planning business.

Reuters reports that the brokerage firm has recently formed three new teams of advisors what will focus on serving the retirement plans of Bank of America's current corporate and investment banking clients.

It turns out that many target date funds are juiced by high yield or "junk" bonds.

The issue is that target date funds (which presumably become more conservative over time as participants age) are riskier than what is generally perceived by consumers, regulators and financial advisors.

This higher level of risk is consistent with the higher than expected volatility and losses experienced by many target date funds during the financial crisis.

Teresa Ghilarducci is a staunch advocate of comprehensive pension reform.  She believes that the 401k is a regressive long-term savings vehicle that leaves the vast majority of American workers unprepared for the financial realities of retirement.

In the video below, Ghilarducci makes the case for a mandatory, government-sponsored defined benefit pension system.