The decision by a major insurance company to spin off most of its long-term care policies earlier this month sends a clear warning to consumers of the importance of that old rule: Buyer beware. Conseco Inc. struck a deal with Pennsylvania regulators to transfer 140,000 long-term care policies into an independent trust. The new non-profit [...] [read full article…]
Could old-fashioned pension plans make a comeback? Traditional defined benefit pensions have been in retreat for several decades, as employers shifted to 401(k) plans and other defined contribution programs. Employers liked it because so-called DC plans shift the risk of market performance from employer to employee. Politicians liked it because it fit with the free [...] [read full article…]
Fargo, N.D., is known for cold winters and a population descended from Scandinavian and German immigrants. The town is 94 percent white and it’s an aging community–one in five residents is over age 55.But Fargo–actually a part of the bigger Fargo-Moorhead metro area that straddles North Dakota and Minnesota–isn’t a stranger to diversity. The town [...] [read full article…]
Q: I have a 457 tax-deferred government retirement plan. I have 25 percent in a 60/40 balanced fund, 25 percent in an extended market fund, 25 percent in an EAFE (foreign stock index) fund and 25 percent in a stock index fund. I’m down about 34 percent year-to-date. Do you recommend I change these allocations? [...] [read full article…]
For retirement investors, good news has been hard to find lately. But here’s a small silver lining for the dark clouds hanging over the market: There’s never been a better time to convert an IRA to a Roth account.If you’ve been thinking of converting some or all of your IRA assets to a Roth, this [...] [read full article…]
