Advisor News
Newswires RSS Get our newsletter
Benefits will likely be a bigger factor in employment decisions in the future, employees say.

Most employees expect their workplace benefits to play a larger role in their future job selection (68%) and in their household financial decisions (61%), according to a survey by Voya Financial.
The COVID-19 pandemic has many Americans changing their retirement plan.

New research from Northwestern Mutual shows that COVID-19 has changed many Americans’ retirement plans, with over one-third saying it has either moved up or pushed back their target retirement age.

Hispanic clients are a big demographic for advisors going forward.

Hispanics are the most likely demographic group (26%) to say they feel “motivated” when thinking about financial planning in the current environment, according to a survey by Lincoln Financial Group.

NORTHBROOK– The Allstate Corp. said it has obtained all regulatory approvals and closed the sale of Allstate Life Insurance Company of New York to buyer Wilton Re for approximately $400 million. "Closing on the sale of ALNY is a significant step in Allstate's strategy of increasing personal property-liability market share and expanding protection…
Americans are more worried about finances after the pandemic.

When asked if they would prefer an annuity that pays 6% guaranteed income for life, while retaining cash value (until depleted by withdrawals) or a bond portfolio yielding 1.5%, the vast majority of respondents said they would take the annuity.

PHILADELPHIA– Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Mark Ramsey, 31, of San Francisco, CA, was convicted today at trial of insider trading charges arising from his use of non-public information provided to him and former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Marvin Mychal Kendricks by a Goldman Sachs investment banker with…

An executive for a business that produces some of the most recognizable consumer brands in the world discussed his company’s efforts to serve a diverse population and what lessons the financial services industry can take from those efforts.
The pandemic has made it harder to engage with new clients.

Women face a number financial planning challenges, led by an income gender gap that leads to a retirement savings gap. Add the caregiving challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and you have a population group at financial risk.

–Aon plc, a leading global professional services firm, today announced the results of its recent survey, " A New Approach to Volatility: The Importance of Making Better Decisions." More than 18 months since the global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Aon surveyed 800 C-suite leaders and senior executives in the U.S., the EU, the UK and Canada to reveal how…

After more than a year of tabling major life plans amid the pandemic, millennials are now preparing for a new wave of decision-making. According to a new MetLife survey on open enrollment, 81 percent of U.S. millennial employees are expecting to make a major life change in the next 12 months, including buying a new home, getting a pet, changing careers, or having a…

In the chart below, the red bar in the middle is the current U.S. top rate of 29.2 percent, which is much higher than the OECD average of 19.1 percent. With state taxes on top, that would push the U.S. rate up to the highest in the OECD at 48.4 percent. The House Democratic plan would push the U.S. rate up to 37 percent, or the third highest in the OECD.
Many parents are dipping into their retirement funds to pay college expenses, a new study finds.

An October 2020 JPMorgan Chase report that analyzed the student loan debt of more than 300,000 Chase Bank customers found that “almost 40% of individuals involved in student loan repayment are helping someone else pay off their student loan debt.”

A former Virginia Beach investment advisor was sentenced today to 35 years in prison, following last week’s sentencing of his Williamsburg-based attorney to 10 years in prison, for their roles in a nationwide investment fraud scheme that resulted in over $25 million in losses.

Although we do not sell life insurance here at Samuel, Sayward& Baler LLC, we do help clients plan for their families' future and life insurance is often a part of that planning. Here are five things to consider in the context of your estate plan when thinking about purchasing, or dropping, a life insurance policy. Life insurance is an excellent planning tool for young…

When it comes to technology, the insurance industry operated under the premise, “If you build it, they will come.” But when technology platforms are built but not adopted, then what?
Insurers could do a better job serving people of color, surveys have found.

Allianz Life’s 2021 Retirement Risk Readiness Study identifies distinct differences among ethnicities regarding retirement risks as well as interest in getting help from a financial professional.
Many Americans are looking forward to retirement. Can they pay for it?

Nearly nine in 10 plan sponsors and participants (88%), respectively, agree that income in retirement is vital to financial security, according to the Nationwide Retirement Institute’s 2021 In-Plan Lifetime Income survey.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that App Annie Inc., a leading alternative data provider for the mobile app industry, and its co-founder and former CEO and Chairman Bertrand Schmitt, have agreed to settle securities fraud charges.
Credit card balances are in good shape for many Americans.

The last time revolving credit balances were over $1 trillion was in April 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic slowed consumer spending.

For decades there have been concerns that foreign investors are buying up farmland in the United States. Our reporting of USDA data shows that in the 40 years or so that records have been kept, foreign investors have bought more than 35 million acres of U.S. farmland worth $62 billion. According to USDA staff, outside investments are on the rise.
Many Americans are looking forward to retirement. Can they pay for it?

According to a new survey from the New York Federal Reserve, 50.1% of respondents expect to keep working past the age of 62. That’s an almost 2% decline from the year before.
Americans have done very well financially as a whole over the past decade.

In April 2020, as Americans were receiving their first relief checks and many businesses shuttered their doors to the public, the saving rate hit an all-time high of 33.7%. It peaked again in March 2021, as the latest round of relief payments were received. As of June, it was 9.4%.

Robert Maron, 62, generated more than $1 million in profits by trading Illumina securities instruments based on non-public information ahead of the company's financial report in October 2016, according to the SEC. The SEC complaint contends that Martha Patricia Bustos, 33, a former Illumina accountant, tipped close friend Donald Blakstad in advance of…
Generation Z workers were the most likely to be affected by the pandemic, with 59% reporting a negative financial impact.

Crafting your client base can be a daunting task, but simplifying it to a system that’s easy to digest will streamline your search process. The “ABC” system that I use is interlinked, as each component depends on, and thrives off one another.

That's according to a new report from University of Wisconsin-Madison. The report from COWS, formerly the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, indicates Wisconsin still has 114,000 fewer jobs available as of July than it did before the onset of COVID-19. Laura Dresser, the associate director of COWS, said the problems in Wisconsin's job market came about well before…

Column provided by Edward Jones on behalf of financial advisor Shelley York. If you're getting close to retirement, you're probably thinking about the ways your life will soon be changing. Many people don't– in fact, 61% of retirees wish they had done better at planning for the financial aspects of their retirement, according to an Edward Jones/ Age Wave study…

At the height of her power, Elizabeth Holmes wasn’t exactly a girlboss. The founder and former CEO of blood-testing startup Theranos, whose fraud trial begins this week, didn’t place a ton of public emphasis on feminism or building women-centric spaces.

The SEC announced Wednesday that it has filed an action against BitConnect, an online crypto lending platform, its founder Satish Kumbhani, and its top U.S. promoter and his affiliated company, alleging that they defrauded retail investors out of $2 billion.

Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong advanced. Investors are optimistic about stronger U.S. corporate profits and took comments by Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell on Friday as assurance interest rates will stay low. On Tuesday, a U.S. business group, the Conference Board, reported consumer confidence fell sharply in August.

If you're getting close to retirement, you're probably thinking about the ways your life will soon be changing. Many people don't in fact, 61% of retirees wish they had done better at planning for the financial aspects of their retirement, according to an Edward Jones/ Age Wave study titled Retirement in the Time of Coronavirus: What a Difference a Year Makes.

Social Security trust funds won't be able to pay full benefits by 2034, one year earlier than previously projected, due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Treasury Department said Tuesday. In its annual summary of Social Security's reserves, the program's trustees said the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and the Disability Fund, designed to…

This Labor Day, some Americans will have extra cash on hand for holiday weekend shopping. Labor Day savings may not be as easy to spot this year, either online or in person. “We have consumers who are believed to have quite a bit of money in their pockets, but the retailers do not have a lot of product,” says Tom Arnold, professor of finance at the University of Richmond’ s…

—Before starting advocacy group the Student Borrower Protection Center, Seth Frotman was the Student Loan Ombudsman at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Frotman spoke to The Associated Press about the Biden administration's decision to extend the student loan repayment moratorium and other issues facing the $1.5 trillion industry.

The Federal Reserve issued a press release at 5 p.m. on a Sunday that month letting everyone know the coronavirus outbreak had disrupted economic activity. At 9 p.m. Saturday, March 21, Mortgage Bankers Association President Robert Broeksmit sent an email to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warning that the…

If you're getting close to retirement, you're probably thinking about the ways your life will soon be changing. Many people don't– in fact, 61% of retirees wish they had done better at planning for the financial aspects of their retirement, according to an Edward Jones/ Age Wave study titled “Retirement in the Time of Coronavirus: What a Difference a Year Makes.”

A Brooklyn man is facing federal charges related to an illegal check-cashing scheme that netted him more than $55 million over the past decade. David Motovich, 46, faces charges of bank fraud, identity theft, and witness tampering in relation to the scheme, federal prosecutors at the Eastern District of New York announced Tuesday. “As alleged, the defendant used a…
Many Americans are looking forward to retirement. Can they pay for it?

The Department of Labor’s lifetime income illustration rule requiring pension and retirement plan providers to issue an annual projection for clients goes into effect in September but the department still has not produced a final rule.
Employees are growing more concerned about their finances.

A MetLife study using Chamber of Commerce data shows employees are worried about finances but employers are not sharpening their focus on their workers’ financial well-being.

For the average benefit recipient, currently receiving $1,543, that could amount to $94 per month. It’s a few years too late for a serious increase, but certainly better than the 1.3% bump we saw for 2021 and the 1.6% the year before.
Americans are happier these days when they check their 401(k) balances.

The average 401(k) plan balance grew 24% to a record $129,300 in the second quarter from a year earlier, according to a review of 19.8 million accounts by Fidelity Investments.

The U.S. Department of Education under President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that it will cancel another $5.8 billion worth of student loan debt by the end of 2021 for over 323,000 borrowers who have a total and permanent disability. This is the largest student loan forgiveness measure put in place since Biden took office, the Education Department said in a…

It's possible to set yourself up for a well-endowed retirement. I like to ask my class what it takes to be wealthy, and someone always says,“ one million dollars.” I typically respond by saying,“ well, that is true for a lot of people, but one million dollars is easy– I’ m going to show you how to have much more than that! On FEE’ s website, David Veksler has an article: How to Become a…

–The Biden administration announced it will eliminate student loan debt payments for more than 300,000 Americans with severe disabilities, said Allsup, a nationwide provider of Social Security Disability Insurance representation services. “The decision to cancel student loan debt for individuals with disabilities is a significant development and past…

Faegre Drinker attorneys say the Department of Labor has been listening to pleas from advisors and brokers to push back the PTE 2020-02 compliance deadline of Dec. 20, but the department is not showing any indication it will postpone.