Congressional committee approval late last week of an amendment to the financial-reform bill maintaining state regulation of equity-indexed annuities drew mixed reaction, with insurers cheering the action and advisers largely opposing it.
Defined contribution plans are adding self-directed brokerage accounts as a way of giving participants more choices even as some plans reduce the number of core investment options.
They're in their prime earning years, often saving for their kids' college education at the same time they're forced to support an aging parent (while, of course, trying to save for their own retirements, too.) In this exclusive <i>Lifestages</i> special report, <i>InvestmentNews</i> focuses on the middle years: 40 to 60.
THE SUN IS SETTING on the golden age of retirement. In Europe, where generous retirement benefits have been a bulwark of the postwar social compact, the realities of increased longevity and a bigger population
There is a downside to a Roth IRA conversion. Whether clients pay tax for 2010 or spread the tax burden between 2011 and 2012, they'll still owe income tax on the pretax money they move from a traditional individual retirement account or company plan to a Roth IRA.
Nationwide Financial Services Inc. last week bumped up its variable annuity living benefits, signaling a return — for some carriers — to the generous benefits that backfired on insurers when the stock market imploded in 2008.
The proposal clarifies that the funds are insurance products that should be overseen by states rather than securities that should be regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Mr. Harkin's amendment would clarify that these funds are insurance products that should be overseen by states rather than the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The group, comprising 60 to 70 representatives from broker-dealers and insurance companies, hopes to hash out a uniform solution to comply with the rules.
The Department of Labor's unprecedented move to ask if 401(k) plan advice models should favor passively managed funds over actively managed ones has advisers alarmed that the choice of funds they can recommend to clients will be restricted.
Though it appears that regulatory oversight of equity-indexed annuities will remain with states — and not shift to the Securities and Exchange Commission — some insurers are nonetheless rolling out indexed-annuities that qualify as securities.
BP shares sunk Thursday in London as U.S. politicians pressed the British oil company to halt its dividend payments and fork out greater compensation for American workers and companies devastated by the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Rational markets? Hardly. In reality, humans tend to have a narrow focus -- often missing the obvious
As soon as he heard that 13-year-old Margaret Hurt was in danger of losing the horse she had been riding since becoming sick with leukemia two years ago, Preston Byers agreed to donate $6,000 to help her buy Hoochie.
Listed as a "monument to unparalleled success," the largest home for sale in the United States comes with plenty of space but no carpet, tiles or interior walls. It's up to the future buyer to finish it.
High-net-worth investors in the U.S. are more pessimistic about the economic recovery than wealthy individuals in many other nations, according to survey released today by Barclays Wealth.
Many representatives and agents say the new requirements add to the already complex layers of review required by Finra.
Stranger-originated annuity transactions have plenty of layers of oversight already, says ValMark Securities' Caleb Callahan
