GROUPS BACK UNIFORM FIDUCIARY STANDARD
Washington D.C. - The Financial Planning Coalition has sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission, accompanied by a petition signed by more than 5,200 financial planners, urging the SEC to apply a uniform fiduciary standard to anyone providing personalized investment advice to retail clients.
In its letter, the coalition - which includes the Financial Planning Association, the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors - urged the SEC to use its authority under Section 913 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to establish a strong and uniform fiduciary standard of conduct for broker-dealers and investment advisors that is no less stringent than that under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.
STUDY: FINANCIAL SITUATION DETERMINES RETIREMENT
Chicago - Three out of four middle-income Baby Boomers say that their financial situation, not age, is now the key trigger for when to retire, according to a recent study.
The Middle-Income Boomers, Financial Security and the New Retirement study, by the Bankers Life and Casualty Company Center for a Secure Retirement, focused on 500 middle-income Americans between ages 47 and 65 with income between $25,000 and $75,000. The study found that one third expect to retire after the traditional retirement age of 65, and 31 percent are uncertain at what age they will be able to retire.
A majority of middle-income Boomers feel that they are behind where they had expected to be at this point in their lives in terms of saving for retirement. Two in three (67 percent) thought that they would be in a better financial position for retirement than they are now.
The ups and downs of the economy have caused women to rethink their retirement age more so than men, and according to the study, they will rely more heavily on their financial situation to decide when it is time to retire.
