In Practice

The 401(k) industry continues to undergo scrutiny and criticisms—many of which are unfounded.

Chinese Americans are great at saving, according to research from Wells Fargo, but fewer than half of survey respondents have a written financial plan.

Two thirds of Americans just don’t bother. Preparing a detailed written or computerized budget each month to track income and expenses, that is.

After a pessimistic April, advisers showed more inclination to think positively about the economy and markets, according to WealthManagement.com’s Advisor Confidence Index.

The number of Americans reaching age 65 each year will continue to grow beyond the Baby Boomers, according to a trend analysis from LIMRA.

Long thought to be an investment with a guaranteed return, traditional fixed-income products have an upside/downside ratio that is unsustainably low, a white paper warns.   

Tools and services focused on employee motivation will lead employees to take effective action to save for retirement, a research paper contends.

While people are optimistic and confident in numerous areas, a survey found concern, worry and a sense of unpreparedness on several financial fronts.

Light on retirement savings and burdened with student debt, African Americans continue making financial progress, according to the follow-up to Prudential’s 2011 study. 

A successful client/adviser relationship is 50% about investments and 50% about trust, according to Stacey Haefele, CEO of HNW, a marketing and technology firm.

The Aspen Institute presented a briefing to Congress last week on retirement and financial security.

Many 401(k) retirement plans allow participants to borrow from their accounts, which can lead to defaults and inadequate retirement savings.  

As 403(b) plans continue to evolve, there are still ample opportunities for plan advisers to help plan sponsors improve their plans and processes.

Roth individual retirement accounts (IRAs) get the most contributions, and IRAs funded by rollovers hold the most money, the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) found.

The first set of Baby Boomers, those born in 1946, are not necessarily "working 'till they drop," as some studies indicate.

More than half (54%) of Millennials say debt is their “biggest financial concern currently,” according to a Wells Fargo Retirement Survey.

Plan sponsors need to educate employees in a way that moves them from a sense of entitlement to empowerment, presenters of a recent webinar suggested.

Advisers have an untapped opportunity to help 403(b) plan sponsors, especially because these plans increasingly have features in common with 401(k)s. 

403(b) plan sponsors continue to make changes to improve the value of their plans and the retirement readiness of participants, according to the latest benchmarking survey.

Investment returns in defined benefit (DB) retirement plans outperformed those in defined contribution (DC) plans in 2011 by the widest margin since the mid-1990s, according to a new...