With almost half of retirement savers having their entire account invested in a single target-date fund last year, the author of today’s article acknowledges that “Target-date funds are taking over retirement accounts” – and this may not be a good thing. He proceeds to explain how a combination of issues with target-date funds “could easily add up to 1 percent…
The Great Recession of 2007-2009 devastated many Americans’ retirement savings – and a new study finds that an experience many Americans face can be almost as devastating: divorce. Specifically, researchers found that “Divorce pushes up an individual’s retirement risk by 7 percentage points, [while] the 2008 financial crisis added 9 points.” What are the numerous reasons the authors of the…
Whenever the next bear market arrives, it may be an especially devastating one for retirees – even those who have managed to build substantial retirement portfolios. Why? The author of today’s article lays out the case, which includes some recent revelations by the U.S. government regarding Social Security and Medicare that he states “will surely have far-reaching consequences.” For more,…
The Federal Reserve just raised interest rates once again and another two rate hikes are now likely before the end of the year. Against this backdrop, the author of today’s article acknowledges that “many market participants, especially retirees with fixed-income-heavy investment mixes, are reasonably concerned about what a period of rising interest rates could mean for their portfolios and for…
Whether one is in the pre-retirement accumulation stage or the retirement decumulation stage, retirement planning seems to be getting increasingly complicated. At a recent investment conference, research and innovations related to the challenges posed by the evolving retirement planning landscape were discussed. For some key takeaways from this discussion – pertaining to target-date funds, Social Security, safe withdrawal rates, annuities…
Trying to tap a lifetime’s worth of savings—enough to enjoy retirement but not so much that you imperil your later years—has never been easy, but it’s about to get a whole lot harder,” warns one retirement researcher cited in today’s article, who sees a confluence of factors coming together to make this “the worst time to retire since just before the…
The good news? American workers’ confidence in their ability to retire is growing. The bad news? As today’s article observes, “the same forces that are fueling retirement confidence have the potential to work against new retirees in the years ahead–especially higher stock-market valuations.” While retirees have no control over the type of market environment that will prevail over their early…
Retirees have been told that, especially given the increasing number of years spent in retirement, they need to maintain a sizable position in equities. It turns out, however, that maintaining a healthy equity allocation in retirement may not be as beneficial for retirees as believed: The author of today’s article analyzed a number of different retirement funding scenarios and came…
Yet another research report has found that a majority of baby boomers do not feel prepared for retirement – and today’s article suggests that one critical factor underlying the position that these boomers find themselves in is a lack of investment in stocks, with the author noting that “The ownership of the vast majority of equity returns in the hands…
The author of today’s article acknowledges that – if such a strategy existed – it would represent “the Holy Grail of retirement investing”: a strategy that would appreciate regardless of market conditions. And one fund – the Permanent Portfolio Fund – purports to do just that. So is this fund something that retirees and those nearing retirement should consider? The…