Should a financial advisor be required to put your best interests first? The answer seems obvious, but the question is being punted back and forth between lawmakers and regulators trying to re-structure oversight of financial advisory services in the wake of the 2008 financial meltdown. At issue here is a provision of the new Dodd-Frank [...] [...more]
Morningstar sponsored a webinar on retirement portfolio planning earlier this week featuring an all-star cast of money managers. Morningstar Director of Personal Finance Christine Benz quizzed the panel on issues such as coping with a rising interest-rate environment; finding the right asset allocation in retirement; balancing income and total return; optimizing withdrawal strategies; incorporating annuities [...] [...more]
My friend Manisha Thakor is a financial planning expert who has devoted herself to the challenge of helping women to get smart about money and retirement planning. Manisha is a passionate advocate on the subject. “But definitely not because we are “worse than men” with money, that’s a total myth,” she says. “My 15 years [...] [...more]
I visited recently with Lauren Young at Reuters to talk about my book, The Hard Times Guide to Retirement Security: Practical Strategies for Money, Work and Living. We discussed the reinvention of retirement, working longer and the future of Social Security; here’s the video of our interview, along with a brief book excerpt and a [...] [...more]
Are women at long last closing the long-standing pay gap with men? Median pay for American women was 22 percent lower than for men in 2008, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That gap hasn’t changed much over time, and it’s a key factor in the economic security challenges that women face in retirement. But [...] [...more]
