March 2019

These are the 15 best dividend stocks for investing in retirement planning

There are many types of investors in America. Whether you are in your 20s or retired, it is important to know what strategy is the best fit for your portfolio. Investing strategies start to change for investors when they get up into their 50s and 60s, as the retirement age starts to become a future reality rather than a distant blur. And after investors reach their formal retirement age and then grow into their 70s, investing strategies should change...

Warren Buffet Tells Pensions and Endowments to Cut Management Fees

Warren Buffett has a word of advice for pension funds and endowments: cut out those high-fee “helpers,” namely consultants, outside managers, and others he deems a drag on returns. In Berkshire Hathaway’s latest annual letter, Buffett describes US growth over the last 77 years. Why 77 years? That refers to when he bought his first stock: three shares of Cities Service for $114.75. And he did a little math regarding public pension funds and college endowments. “If my $114.75...

Phoenix Group sees more UK Plc pension insurance deals as Brexit nears

Phoenix Group, Europe’s largest owner of life assurance funds closed to new customers, expects Britain’s approaching departure from the European Union to push more UK companies to offload risks linked to their pension schemes in 2019. The company also reported higher full-year profit and targeted cash generation of 3.8 billion pounds ($5.01 billion)from 2019 to 2023, more than the 2.5 billion pounds it earlier expected to earn between 2018 and 2022. Phoenix, poised to enter London’s blue-chip index, also...

February 2019

US Man’s “Holiday Inn” Retirement Plan Is Viral

Competition is at least partly to blame, with some 10,000 baby boomers retiring each day, according to the business news channel. American seniors seeking to retire on the cheap have a new source of inspiration: a Texas man who plans to spend his golden years in Holiday Inn hotels to avoid costly nursing home fees. "For a combined long term stay discount and senior discount, it's $59.23 per night," Houston-area resident Terry Robison said on Facebook three weeks ago...

US. MBTA pension fund faces hard times after 2018 losses

After the MBTA pension fund posted losses in 2018, officials warned Monday that the burden of covering retirement for thousands of T employees remains "a really crucial issue." The fund has been the subject of scrutiny for years as the MBTA grapples with budget concerns. New figures, discussed at the authority's board meeting, did not alleviate the pressure: the fund paid out $100 million more to retirees last year than it collected in contributions from current employees, and it...

Pension Funds Investing In Crypto Is A Big Deal!

Bitcoin is back near $4,000, its highest level since early January. The rally in crypto is across the board as BitcoinCash, Ethereum, Litecoin, Monero and XRP are all at or near their 30-day highs. I believe that much of the recent strength is the market reacting to multiple stories about public pension funds starting to make investments in cryptocurrencies (or at least make those investments public). For me, the first story that attracted my attention was that...

Crypto Institutional Herd: University Of Michigan Looks To Bolster Blockchain Investment

Mike Novogratz, the chief executive of blockchain startup Galaxy Digital, recently remarked that institutions are “slow to move” when it comes to crypto assets. Yet, this doesn’t seem to be the case. According to an exclusive report from Bloomberg, the University of Michigan’s $12 billion endowment intends to siphon more of its funds into crypto-centric funds in the near future, in spite of the dramatic slump in the Bitcoin price. $12 Billion University Endowment Looks To Double-Down On Blockchain...

10 Critical Questions About Retirement Plan Cybersecurity

Congress is taking an interest in cybersecurity specifically as it relates to retirement plans, providers, sponsors and participants. Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Congressman Bobby Scott, D-Va., asked 10 important questions (more actually, since each have multiple parts) of the Government Accountability Office last week, seeking answers about protections in place, and what more should be done moving forward. “Under current law, retirement plan fiduciaries are responsible for designing and administering plans in the best interest of plan participants,”...

Aging Americans are a big market for tech investors, who also want to monitor their parents

Greg Yap is a venture capitalist looking for the next big thing in digital health. At age 45, he's also the father of young kids and the son of an aging mother, who lives nearby in an independent living facility. On days he can't visit his mom and doesn't hear from her, he still wants to know how she's doing. So he's combining his personal concerns as a son with his job as an investor and experimenting with new...

Why Full Retirement Age Is So Important For Social Security

As most people are aware, you can start taking your Social Security benefit as early as 62. You can also delay taking benefits until you are 70. In between 62 and 70 is what’s called your “Full Retirement Age.” Understanding the distinctions of “Full Retirement Age” is an integral part of your claiming strategy. There are basically four factors that determine your claiming strategy and ultimate amount of lifetime benefits you will receive. Three of which you can control...