Editor's Letter
You’re leaving money on the table, plain and simple. In each of the past three exit planning issues, we’ve tried to convey just how much business can be gained from an exit planning focus. According to John Leonetti, managing director of...
Forward Motion
AARP’s new survey on how retirement affects married couples reveals surprising, and not so surprising trends.
Of the more than 1,000 people age 55 to 75 who responded, 64 percent found adjusting to their retirement is exactly what they...
Recent investment panic aside, boomers are simply not prepared to deal with their long-term health care needs. A recent survey by the Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education shows 64 percent of Americans age 45 and older say the recession...
The average 401(k) plan balance has dropped 14 percent in 2008 to $68,000, down from $79,000 in 2007.
Savings rates have dropped marginally, from 8 percent in 2007 to 7.8 percent in 2008. Just 4 percent of employees have terminated their 4...
In his push for boomer votes, President Obama talked up retirement in several policy proposals. Here’s what will happen if they pass:
Automatic enrollment plan — Employers that do not currently offer a retirement plan would be required...
Boomers are understandably reluctant to quit working in the middle of a recession. But once the economy bounces back, they aren’t going to wait to retire, according to MRINetwork, a recruitment organization.
“Most people don’t...
Scientists at Ohio State University say they’re seeing more evidence that smoking dope could be good for the aging brain. Research suggests elements of marijuana reduce inflammation and can stimulate new cells.
While they’re not exactly...
Believe it or not, it would do us all good if boomers could work a little longer. A two-year increase in the median retirement age over the next decade would add almost $13 trillion to real US GDP during the next 30 years while cutting in half the...
Ryan Barnes, editor of epiphanyinvesting.com, lists 10 investments your boomer clients should consider. While you’re no doubt familiar with most, there might be one or two you missed:
U.S. Treasuries
Certificates of deposit...
Much of boomer wealth and retirement savings is being spread across multiple generations. Not only are boomers concerned with spending for themselves, most are helping with the financial demands of their children and parents.
New research from...
Strong rental markets in the Katrina and Rita disaster zone means real estate investment opportunities for boomers, says Jerry Cohen, founder of Florida-based EquityBuild. What’s the appeal? Tax incentives under the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act...
Broker/Dealer Playbook
A Tiburon Strategic Advisors study found that 51 percent of all independent advisors are over age 50 and half of them intend to sell their businesses upon retirement. According to the same study, only 45 percent of fee-only financial advisors and 29...
From the 2008 Financial Services Fact Book:
The landscape of the financial services industry shifted radically in 2008, as turbulence in the financial markets led to the failure of a number of industry stalwarts and the end of Wall Street as we...
Citigroup has $1.23 trillion in risk-drenched off-balance sheet assets, which is more than the gross domestic product of India and more than twice the projected budget deficit for the entire U.S. government in fiscal 2009. — Heidi N. Moore,...
Individual Retirement Accounts came to fruition during the height of baby boomer accumulation. But as Morningstar CEO Don Phillips mentioned in last month’s issue, the current downturn and public anger with the securities industry makes...
In a related item, the Financial Services Institute, the broker/dealer lobbying organization, is calling on the Treasury Secretary to suspend required minimum distributions from IRAs. Forced withdrawals during the current financial crisis will only...
The Fund Watch
Municipal bonds are thought of as the sleepier corner of the fixed income universe, but 2008 brought renewed investor attention to this $2.6 trillion market. In fact, as the year came to a close, municipal bonds were trading near historically high...
Retirees aren’t nearly as bad with their retirement spending as we’ve been led to believe, according to a recent Investment Company Institute study. In fact, their spending could be considered downright responsible. Whether this will...
CheckList
Most business owners spend the majority of their time and effort building and maintaining wealth in their privately-held businesses, and not enough on the transition out. John Leonetti, managing director of Boston-based Pinnacle Equity Solutions...