Author name: Jon Milliken

Total-Return Investing for Solid Construction

As we’ve discussed in the first two parts of this three-part series, we do not recommend turning to dividend-yielding stocks or high-yield (“junk”) bonds to buttress your retirement income, even in low-yield environments. So what do we recommend? Today we’ll answer that question by describing total-return investing.     Part III: Total-Return Investing for Solid Construction   […]

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Helping Young Americans Save for Retirement Act

Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), the Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of that committee, introduced the Helping Young Americans Save for Retirement Act. Sponsors of 401(k) plans would have to permit employees as young as 18 to make contributions under the bill. However,

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Help Your Employees Avoid Social Media Pitfalls in Retirement Planning

Americans are increasingly getting financial and retirement planning guidance from social media, risking exposure to misinformation, harmful advice, and outright scams. Alarmingly, this includes almost eight in 10 millennials and Gen Zers. Workers turning to these platforms can undercut the benefit of employer-sponsored financial wellness initiatives and put themselves at risk. But there are ways

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Retirement Investments: High-Yield Bonds

Retirement Income Strategies: Debunking High-Yield Bond Myths

In Part I of our three-part series on investing for retirement income in low-rate environments, we explained why we don’t advise bulking up on dividend-yielding stocks as a reliable way to generate retirement cash flow. Like the Three Little Pigs’ straw house, dividend-yielding stocks can disappoint you by exhibiting inherent risks just when you most

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Proposed Legislation: Helping Young Americans Save for Retirement Act

Retirement planning often directs attention toward mid-career 401(k) participants and those nearing retirement — and understandably so, given their tighter timeline to secure post-retirement financial stability. But what about the youngest members of the workforce — the 18- to 20-year-olds, or those even younger? This demographic faces a potentially more challenging economic outlook than their

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Q1 2024 Fiduciary Hot Topics

DOL Releases New Fiduciary Advice Proposal On October 31, 2023, the Department of Labor (DOL) released its “Proposed Retirement Security Rule: Definition of an Investment Advice Fiduciary,” along with proposed revisions to Prohibited Transaction Exemptions (PTEs) 2020-02, as well as other fiduciary-advice-related PTEs (i.e., 84-24, 75-1, 77-4, 80-83, 83-1, and 86-128). If finalized, a new

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Surging Credit Card Debt: Strategies for Plan Sponsors to Help Bolster Retirement Readiness

With U.S. credit card debt recently soaring to a record high of $1.08 trillion, retirement plan sponsors face a pivotal moment. This staggering amount, a $48 billion escalation since the second quarter and a $154 billion increase year-over-year is a cautionary signal for Americans’ financial stability. The compounding pressures of post-pandemic recovery and inflation have

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