April 2026
06Apr

Here’s Exactly What I Plan to Do if the Market Crashes as I’m About to Retire

As someone who writes about investing and personal finance, I'm well aware that a stock market crash can be nerve wracking at any time. But I also know that market downturns are nothing to panic about when you're decades away from retirement. But what if the market crashes just as you're about to retire? Talk about bad timing. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing...

April 6, 2026
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01Apr

U.S. retirement savings hit alarming low

Median savings reveal stark reality New analysis from the National Institute on Retirement Security finds that U.S. workers aged 21 to 64 have a median of $40,000 in defined contribution plans, but when including those without savings, the median plunges to $955. This underscores a widening gap between retirement needs and actual savings, exacerbated by the decline of pensions. AARP data shows 20% of adults over 50 have no retirement savings, and 61% believe they lack enough for their later...

April 1, 2026
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01Apr

Dutch pension funds cut US exposure as rebalancing drives shift to Europe

Dutch pension funds were net sellers of US assets last year, reallocating capital towards Europe, according to figures from regulator DNB. On balance, funds sold €30bn of US equities and bonds, while purchasing €23bn of European securities. In 2025, pension funds sold €18bn of US government and corporate bonds and €12bn of equities. The decline was largely driven by civil servant scheme ABP, which divested more than €10bn of US government bonds. While US debt securities were predominantly sold, flows into European fixed...

April 1, 2026
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March 2026
31Mar

US issues draft rules on private assets in 401k plans

The U.S. Department of Labor on Monday issued long-awaited proposed new rules intended to clarify how trustees can add alternative assets ranging from private ​equity to cryptocurrencies to 401(k) retirement plans. The measure, which is intended to ‌ease long-standing barriers to incorporating these less liquid assets in American retirement nest eggs, follows an executive order by President Donald Trump last summer and could clear the way for alternative ​asset management firms to tap a large and potentially lucrative new source ​of capital. Shares...

March 31, 2026
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30Mar

US. Private-Credit Wobbles Could Prove Perilous for Trump

At a meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council this month, Trump administration officials moved ahead with plans to scale back scrutiny of hedge funds, encouraged financial firms to experiment with artificial intelligence and lamented the burden of onerous regulation. What wasn’t discussed during the public session was the segment of the financial system that has Washington and Wall Street most on edge: private credit. The once-booming corner of lending markets has been showing signs of shakiness recently, raising alarm...

March 30, 2026
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27Mar

US. How to Recession-Proof Your Retirement Income Before 2026 Ends

Will a recession hit in 2026? At this point, that's anyone's guess. But between the oversees conflict, tariff policies, and general uncertainty, it's easy to see why some people may be worried about the economy taking a serious turn for the worse. Recessions can hit workers harder than retirees because they often lead to an uptick in lost jobs. If you're retired and aren't working, you at least don't have to worry about losing your job. And even if you're working...

March 27, 2026
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25Mar

The surprising reason people in the US are working longer than they used to

Older workers today have more wealth than previous generations but are afraid to use it Workers covered primarily by traditional pensions that paid them a monthly check for life retired at an average age of 62, while those relying on 401(k)-style plans retired closer to 66, a new study found. In the good old days, when my father retired, he had a traditional pension that paid him a monthly check for life. He never had to wonder whether he would outlive...

March 25, 2026
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24Mar

Longevity wake-up call for younger generations

New study shows Gen X and Millennials face rising mortality rates, signaling an urgent need for longevity-focused solutions. For decades, Americans have been living longer, but recent trends suggest that this upward march may be stalling, and for some generations, it’s moving in reverse. A new study tracking cause-of-death data from 1979 to 2023 highlights a worrying pattern: people born between 1970 and 1985 – late Gen Xers and early Millennials – are experiencing higher mortality rates than the generations...

March 24, 2026
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23Mar

US. Retirement Plan Coming Up Short? Here’s How to Buy Yourself More Time

On this episode of The Long View, Emily Guy Birken, author and retirement expert, discusses key steps for investors as they get closer to retirement, how Social Security can help with retirement shortfalls, and lessons from her latest book, The Five Years Before You Retire. Here are a few excerpts from Guy Birken’s conversation with Morningstar’s Christine Benz and Amy Arnott. How to Bridge a Retirement Shortfall Amy Arnott: What if you find yourself in a situation where you’re approaching retirement and it looks like you really won’t have enough to...

March 23, 2026
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20Mar

Employee Satisfaction and Pension Shortfall Risk

By Annita Florou, Meng Li, Peter F. Pope & Nipat Puangjampa Defined benefit (DB) pension plans are important to employee welfare. However, they carry risk as they are subject to minimum funding requirements. We examine the effect of a relaxation in pension funding rules on employee satisfaction by exploiting the adoption of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). We find that employees of DB firms are less satisfied with their firms and their senior managers, after...

March 20, 2026
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