Retirement Resource Center, Author at Retirement InSight and Trends

Author Archive

March, 2015 InFRE Update: Welcome Our New Board of Standards and Standing Committee Members

By Kevin S. Seibert, CFP®, CEBS, CRC®, Managing Director, InFRE The Board of Standards and Policy Development (BOS), the policy-making and oversight body of Certified Retirement Counselor® (CRC®) Certification, recently chose two individuals to serve on the BOS beginning in January, 2015. We extend our congratulations and sincere thanks to Sherry Keegan, CRC®, Keegan Wealth Management […]

Posted in: The InFRE Update

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What Color is Your Parachute? for Retirement: Planning for Prosperity, Health and Happiness

By John E. Nelson, Purposeful Retirement Advocate, Author & Coach Editor’s note: When I graduated from college with a finance degree – a LONG time ago – I purchased the book “What Color is Your Parachute?” to help me determine which area of finance I wanted to pursue. I loved the practicality of the book […]

Tags: John E. Nelson

Posted in: PLAN for Retirement Readiness, Retirement Counseling/Coaching, Successful Aging

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Introduction to Managing Retirement Income

By Kevin S. Seibert, CFP®, CRC®, CEBS, Managing Director, International Foundation for Retirement Education (InFRE) There are key questions to answer for clients, and you can also ask certain employees if that’s appropriate based on whom you’re working with. The key questions to ask clients and employees when creating retirement income solutions are: What’s different […]

Tags: InFRE, Kevin Seibert

Posted in: PROVIDE Retirement Income, Retirement Income Planning and Spending

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January, 2014 InFRE Update: Certificant Complaints and Discipline

It’s a good thing to periodically remind those of us who hold the Certified Retirement Counselor® (CRC®) Certification of the procedures in place in case an event occurs that triggers denial, revocation or suspension of use of the CRC® certification. A CRC® Certificant’s right to use the mark may be denied, revoked or suspended or […]

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Welcome to InFRE’s October, 2013 Issue of Retirement Insight and Trends

Retirement InSight and Trends is the quarterly newsletter for the International Foundation for Retirement Education’s Certified Retirement Counselors® (CRC®s) to help retirement professionals with the practical application of new retirement readiness, counseling, planning and income management concepts for the mid-market. Find out more about the CRC® and InFRE here. This issue is no longer eligible […]

Tags: Betty Meredith, CFP, CPA, CRC, InFRE, retirement income

Posted in: Quarterly Issue Home Page

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Welcome to InFRE’s June, 2013 Issue of Retirement Insight and Trends

Tags: Betty Meredith, CFP, CPA, CRC, InFRE, retirement income

Posted in: Quarterly Issue Home Page

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June, 2013 InFRE Update: The 2013 Update of the Practice Analysis of the Work of Certified Retirement Counselors (CRC®)

By Kevin S. Seibert, CFP®, CEBS, CRC®, Managing Director, InFRE The Certified Retirement Counselor®(CRC®) certification examination is designed to ensure that all CRC® Certificants possess the necessary knowledge and skills to competently fulfill their responsibilities as retirement counseling professionals. The validity of the CRC® exam is dependent upon the Certified Retirement Counselor®(CRC®) Practice Analysis from […]

Tags: CRC

Posted in: The InFRE Update

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The 4% Rule is Not Safe in a Low-Yield World

by Michael Finke, Ph.D., CFP®, Wade D. Pfau, Ph.D., CFA, David M. Blanchett, CFA, CFP® Editor’s Note: I have been concerned for several years about the effect of low interest rates on retirees and what will happen to their bond investments once interest rates are not artificially suppressed. I’ve also long held that the 4% rule is not […]

Tags: David Blanchett, Michael Finke, Wade Pfau

Posted in: PROVIDE Retirement Income, Retirement Income Planning and Spending

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From Buyer Beware to Buyer Aware: Evaluating Guaranteed Income Solutions in DC Plans

Editor’s note: also see this issue’s other article on retirement income options in employer-sponsored defined contribution plans In-plan guaranteed income solutions can help defined contribution (DC) plan participants mitigate their longevity risk. Yet because the available solutions can differ on several dimensions, they are hard to compare. We hear statements such as “XYZ is illiquid, […]

Posted in: PROVIDE Retirement Income, Public Sector Plans, Retirement Investing and Investments, Retirement Plan Administration

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Welcome to InFRE’s April, 2013 Issue of Retirement Insight and Trends

Tags: Betty Meredith, CFP, CPA, CRC, InFRE

Posted in: Quarterly Issue Home Page

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April, 2013 InFRE Update: An Updated Certified Retirement Counselor® (CRC®) Exam

by Kevin Seibert, CFP®, CEBS, CRC®, Managing Director, InFRE Sound credentialing practice requires that we periodically revise and update certification examinations. Over the past several months our examination committee has been working on the latest exam update. In this article, we’ll describe the process used to ensure that your investment in the CRC® Certification, and […]

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Posted in: The InFRE Update

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Approaching the Underserved Middle-Market: Insights from Planners – Part II

This is the second half of a summary of focus groups with financial planners at the Financial Planning Association 2012 Retreat in Scottsdale, Arizona on May 6-7, 2012. The first half of this report appeared in the December, 2012 issue of Retirement Insight and Trends. By Anna Rappaport FSA, Jaleen Edwards, and Betty Meredith, CFA®, […]

Tags: Betty Meredith, FPA, mid-market retirement

Posted in: PROVIDE Retirement Income, Retirement Income Planning and Spending

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A Lasting Mother’s Day Gift for the Mid-Market

By Betty Meredith, CFA, CFP®, CRC® This Mother’s Day, reach out to three women who mean a lot you – your mother, aunts, sisters, cousins and even daughters – and review the following with them. As a pre-read to this article, I highly recommend the November, 2010 article by Eleanor Blayney, “Empowering, Educating, and Engaging […]

Tags: Betty Meredith, mid-market retirement

Posted in: PROTECT the Plan from Retirement Risks, Retirement Readiness Planning, Women and Retirement

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The Evolving Role of Defined Contribution Plans in the Public Sector

Authors: Paula Sanford and Joshua M. Franzel Editor’s note: InFRE was a reviewer for this joint research paper of the Arthur N. Caple Foundation and the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators conducted by the Center for State and Local Government Excellence. This is an excerpt from the complete report. The role of defined […]

Tags: Joshua Franzel, NAGDCA, Paula Sanford

Posted in: Public Sector Plans

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Overview of Current Long-Term Care Financing Options

By Ellen J. Tell At some point in their lives, most people will need some form of ongoing assistance, often called long term care (LTC) or long-term services and supports (LTSS). This includes assistance with activities of daily living such as bathing or dressing or supervision required by a cognitive condition such as Alzheimer’s disease. […]

Tags: Ellen Tell

Posted in: Medical and Long-term Care Planning, PROTECT the Plan from Retirement Risks

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Welcome to InFRE’s December, 2012 Issue of Retirement Insight and Trends

Posted in: Quarterly Issue Home Page

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Approaching the Underserved Middle-Market: Insights from Planners (Part I)

A summary of focus groups with financial planners at the Financial Planning Association 2012 Retreat in Scottsdale, Arizona on May 6-7, 2012 By Anna Rappaport FSA, Jaleen Edwards, and Betty Meredith, CFA®, CFP®, CRC® Many surveys of America’s middle-market have found that this market is vastly underserved when it comes to financial planning, services and […]

Posted in: PROVIDE Retirement Income, Retirement Income Planning and Spending

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Two Articles on IRAs: Help Clients Avoid Mistakes with Inherited Retirement Accounts, and Beneficiary Designations

By Denise Appleby, APA, CISP, CRPS, CRC®, CRSP Editor’s Note: Denise is a long-time supporter of InFRE and a fellow Certified Retirement Counselor®. She excels at explaining IRA and employer plan rules and regulations, because not only does she know and understand the regulations, she has extensive practical experience. Here are two articles to help […]

Posted in: PROVIDE Retirement Income, Retirement Distributions/Withdrawals

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Pensionomics 2012: Measuring the Economic Impact of DB Pension Expenditures

By Illana Boivie, National Institute on Retirement Security Editor’s note: The work of the National Institute for Retirement Security (NIRS) strikes a cord with me, being a CFA and having managed pension and other investment portfolios in a previous life. For retirement security, a majority of a middle-income individual’s income needs to derive from lifetime […]

Posted in: Public Sector Plans

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How to Improve Retirement Income Planning Software for the Mid-market

By Betty Meredith, CFA, CFP®, CRC® Making informed retirement income decisions is much more difficult than making retirement accumulation decisions, and millions of pre-retirement and retired Americans currently do not have access to the qualified professional advice they need. Professionals choosing to work with these millions of middle mass and middle mass affluent clients in […]

Posted in: PROVIDE Retirement Income, Retirement Distributions/Withdrawals, Retirement Income Planning and Spending

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How We Sell – and Why We Fail to Sell – Annuities

By Chuck Yanikoski, Founder and President of StillRiver Retirement Planning Software, Inc. Editor’s note: Chuck Yanikoski has contributed this and other articles to Retirement Insight and Trends. You can view a YouTube brief of one of Chuck’s presentations here. You may also choose to take the full length course of one of his presentations to […]

Posted in: PROVIDE Retirement Income, Retirement Investing and Investments

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December, 2012 InFRE Update: The Importance of Independent Accreditation of the CRC®

By Kevin S. Seibert, CFP®, CEBS, CRC®, Managing Director, InFRE I recently attended the Institute for Credentialing Excellence (ICE) annual conference in Palm Springs California. Attendees learn best practices for creating and maintaining certification programs accredited by ICE’s National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA). The NCCA was created in 1987 by ICE to help insure […]

Posted in: The InFRE Update

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Welcome to InFRE’s October, 2012 Issue of Retirement Insight and Trends

Tags: CFP, CPA

Posted in: Past Issues

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Three Handy-dandy Resources for Retirement Counselors

By Betty Meredith, CFA®, CFP®, CRC® In this new column, we’ll provide links to practical online resources that can help retirement counselors in their one-on-one meetings with clients or seminar/workshop participants. If you know of a resource that will benefit other retirement counselors, send an email with a link to me at info@infre.org. Thank you […]

Posted in: PROVIDE Retirement Income, Retirement Income Planning and Spending

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The Final Investment Advice Regulations

By William C. Grossman, ERPA, QPA, APR, Director of Education and Communications, McKay Hochman Co., Inc. Editor’s note: I thought Bill Grossman did a great job succinctly summarizing the final investment advice regulations. This article appears courtesy of McKay Hochman. The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) recently issued a final regulation to […]

Tags: McKay Hochman, William Grossman

Posted in: PLAN for Retirement Readiness, PROVIDE Retirement Income

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Government 457(b) Primer

By the National Association for Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA) Publications Committee and Executive Board The following provides a brief overview of the features and rules applicable to governmental 457(b) plans. It is meant to serve as an introductory foundation to the inner workings of these plans and it may serve as a useful tool […]

Tags: public sector retirement plans

Posted in: Public Sector Plans

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How Important is Asset Allocation to Retirement Security?

Center for Retirement Research Issues Brief, June 2012, Number 12-11 By Alicia H. Munnell, Natalia Sergeyevna Orlova, and Anthony Webb* Introduction Financial planners devote considerable energy to advising Americans how to invest their retirement savings. Of course, wise investment of one’s hard-earned money is important. But the fact is that many Americans have saved very […]

Posted in: PROVIDE Retirement Income, Retirement Income Planning and Spending, Retirement Investing and Investments

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Generational Understanding and Communication

Editor’s note: the following is excerpted from InFRE’s Certified Retirement Counselor (CRC®) Study Guide, “Fundamentals of Retirement Planning.” As more people seek retirement counseling, it is critical for professionals to understand the underlying motivations, beliefs and money attitudes that are implicit in how clients and prospects make decisions. The more insight we have, the better […]

Tags: retirement counseling

Posted in: PLAN for Retirement Readiness, Retirement Counseling/Coaching

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Developing Retirement Income Planning Guidelines for the Mid-market

By Betty Meredith, CFA®, CFP®, CRC® The U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report on recommendations of professionals and choices made by American workers regarding retirement income. For this report, the GAO interviewed officials from the Department of Labor, the Internal Revenue Service, the Securities and Exchange Commission, […]

Tags: Betty Meredith, InFRE, mid-market retirement, retirement income

Posted in: PROVIDE Retirement Income, Retirement Income Planning and Spending

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October, 2012 InFRE Update: What We Learned from Surveying Our Certificants

By Betty Meredith, CFA®, CFP®, CRC® A few months ago we surveyed our 2,000+ active Certificants to find out how we can better meet your needs. Here’s what we learned from the 20% (431) of you who responded: 1. Roughly 1/3 of you serve public sector plans and 2/3 work for private sector firms. 2. […]

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Posted in: The InFRE Update

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Welcome to InFRE’s April, 2012 Issue of Retirement Insight and Trends

Tags: CFP, CPA, InFRE

Posted in: Past Issues

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Standardized “Sizes” Will Boost Quality of Retirement Security for the Mid-market

By Betty Meredith, CFA®, CFP®, CRC® I live just west of Dearborn, Michigan where Henry Ford revolutionized manufacturing in the early 1900s by creating the assembly line. Cars evolved from luxury item for the well-to-do to essential transportation for the ordinary man. Using innovative production techniques, Ford decreased the production time of a car from […]

Tags: Betty Meredith, mid-market retirement

Posted in: PLAN for Retirement Readiness, PROTECT the Plan from Retirement Risks, PROVIDE Retirement Income, Retirement Distributions/Withdrawals, Retirement Income Planning and Spending

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Managing Mid-Market Retirement Risks

By Betty Meredith, CFA®, CFP®, CRC® The financial industry generally classifies a client’s risk tolerance by their capability to assume investment risk. When retirement planning for the mid-market, retirement counselors need to prioritize a client’s ability to protect against the additional primary risks of inflation, longevity, health and long-term care before they plan for their […]

Tags: Betty Meredith, mid-market retirement, retirement counseling

Posted in: Medical and Long-term Care Planning, PROTECT the Plan from Retirement Risks, Retirement Income Planning and Spending

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Facilitating Employer-sponsored Lifetime Income Options

By Betty Meredith, CFA®, CFP®, CRC® In early February, The Council of Economic Advisers published a report titled “Supporting Retirement for American Families.” The paper summarized the historical shift from traditional DB to 401(k)-type plans and hybrid DB plans, highlighting the problem of decreasing lifetime retirement benefits for American workers, and the need for employer-sponsored […]

Posted in: PROVIDE Retirement Income, Retirement Income Planning and Spending

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The Secure Choice Pension for Private Sector Workers

Editor’s note: the following is an excerpt from the white paper “The Secure Choice Pension” by Hank Kim, Esq., Executive Director of the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems, published in September, 2011. The views presented in this paper are not necessarily the views of InFRE but are presented here to help retirement counselors […]

Tags: public sector retirement plans

Posted in: Public Sector Plans, Retirement Distributions/Withdrawals

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Managing Retirement Decisions Client Education Resources

By Betty Meredith, CFA®, CFP®, CRC® The Society of Actuaries’ Committee on Post Retirement Needs and Risks recently completed a significant series of planning briefs to help consumers make more informed retirement decisions. Drawing upon the expertise of prominent retirement professionals, the result is this thought-provoking series of 11 issue briefs written in everyday language […]

Posted in: PLAN for Retirement Readiness, PROTECT the Plan from Retirement Risks, PROVIDE Retirement Income, Retirement Education and Counseling, Retirement Readiness Planning

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Sounds Like a Plan

By Kerry Prechter, Editor, Retirement Income Journal A directory of 27 software tools accompanies this overview of the rapidly evolving retirement planning technology industry. “Only the dead know Brooklyn,” a great novelist once wrote. Thomas Wolfe wasn’t referring to zombies; he was just observing that no one alive could possibly know everything there was to […]

Tags: Kerry Prechter, mid-market retirement

Posted in: PROTECT the Plan from Retirement Risks, PROVIDE Retirement Income, Retirement Income Planning and Spending, Retirement Product Trends

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April, 2012 InFRE Update: Introducing InFRE’s New Retirement Plan Administrator Series for Public Plans

By Betty Meredith, CFA®, CFP®, CRC® In this ever changing environment – particularly legislative and regulatory changes – there are many challenges that state and local government employers face. This results in an increased need for education and training on the design and administration of primary and supplemental retirement benefits. At the same time, employer budgets […]

Tags: InFRE, public sector retirement plans

Posted in: Public Sector Plans, The InFRE Update

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Welcome to InFRE’s January, 2012 Issue of Retirement InSight and Trends

the quarterly newsletter for the International Foundation for Retirement Education’s Certified Retirement Counselors® (CRC®s) to keep abreast of what’s happening in the field of retirement readiness, counseling, planning and income management. Find out more about the CRC® and InFRE here. Each quarter’s newsletter consists of 5-7 articles. This issue is no longer eligible for CE credit. Looking for additional CE […]

Tags: CFP, CPA, InFRE

Posted in: Past Issues

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Financial Literacy Around the World: An Overview

By Annamaria Lusardi and Olivia S. Mitchell Editor’s note: This excerpt is from an in-depth study of financial literacy around the world (access the entire study here), and its determination of retirement preparedness. InFRE has long held this to be the case, and therefore created the RetirAwareness Quiz (RAQ) for use with employees and clients […]

Tags: financial literacy, Olivia Mitchell

Posted in: PLAN for Retirement Readiness, Public Sector Plans, Retirement Counseling/Coaching

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How Well are Reverse Mortgages Meeting the Needs of the Mid-market?

By Betty Meredith, CFA®, CFP®, CRC® For the average mid-market American, home equity is their largest household asset. As retirement counselors, we need to understand options for helping retired clients appropriately use their home equity if their economic situation requires it, such as selling their home/downsizing if access to their equity isn’t feasible, or alternatives if they […]

Tags: Betty Meredith, mid-market retirement, retirement income

Posted in: PROVIDE Retirement Income, Retirement Investing and Investments

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The Scientific Approach to Personal Wealth Management

By Paula H. Hogan, CFP®, CFA Editor’s note: Being ready for retirement requires having a plan to manage the key retirement risks of longetivity, inflation, medical and long-term care, and market and interest rate risks. Here are some good reminders from a financial planning point of view of what we as retirement couselors need to keep in mind […]

Tags: Paula Hogan, retirement counseling

Posted in: PLAN for Retirement Readiness, PROVIDE Retirement Income, Retirement Counseling/Coaching, Retirement Distributions/Withdrawals

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Managing Retirement Income for the Middle Income Americans – Part 2

By Betty Meredith, CFA®, CFP®, CRC® Editor’s note: This is the second half of a two-part article on a retirement income planning process for the mid-market. The first half can be accessed here. Step 4: Identify Options for Addressing Gaps Steps 1, 2, and 3 make up the data collection phase of creating a retirement […]

Tags: Betty Meredith, retirement income

Posted in: PROVIDE Retirement Income, Retirement Income Planning and Spending

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The Financial Recovery Continues: The Impact of the 2008–2011 Financial Crisis

Introduction: Since 2008, the financial atmosphere around the world has been in constant change. The 2008 downturn experienced in the United States has been followed by a rollercoaster-like recovery period. And this financial turmoil includes worldwide economic chaos, as well as the U.S. debt ceiling crisis in the summer of 2011. To measure the effects […]

Tags: Betty Meredith

Posted in: PROTECT the Plan from Retirement Risks

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January, 2012 InFRE Update: Retirement Careers by InFRE

By Betty Meredith, InFRE’s Director of Education and Research In 2011, the retirement industry again reached a total asset size of over $17 trillion dollars (pre-2008 levels). With boomers retiring at a rate of 10,000 a day, there is an urgent need to increase the quality of advice and retirement security of the American worker. […]

Tags: Betty Meredith, InFRE, John Salter

Posted in: The InFRE Update

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Welcome to InFRE’s November, 2011 Issue of Retirement InSight and Trends

Tags: CFP, CPA, InFRE

Posted in: Past Issues

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Can Annuity Purchase Intentions Be Influenced?

The findings in this study are applicable to not only purchase of annuities, but all financial products as well. The more effectively we as professional retirement counselors frame the education and guidance we give consumers and employees, the more receptive, desirous and confident consumers and employees will be to take steps to improve their retirement […]

Tags: behavioral finance, Betty Meredith, retirement counseling

Posted in: PROVIDE Retirement Income, Retirement Investing and Investments

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The Impact of Retirement Risks on Women

The Impact of Retirement Risks on Women Study was sponsored by WISER and the Society of Actuaries’ (SOA) Post Retirement Needs and Risks Committee (see description of both organizations at the end of this article). InFRE has been an active member of this committee since its inception, and partners regularly with the SOA on studies that will […]

Posted in: PROTECT the Plan from Retirement Risks, Women and Retirement

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Managing Retirement Income for the Middle Income Americans

Retirement income planning is the most important trend in the financial planning industry today, and it requires a new type of qualified retirement professional who can manage income at the start of and throughout retirement for middle-affluent and middle-mass clients. This article explains a six-step retirement income management process jointly developed by the International Foundation […]

Tags: Betty Meredith, mid-market retirement

Posted in: PROVIDE Retirement Income, Retirement Income Planning and Spending

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Outsourcing Education Development for Public Plans

Over 15% of all CRC® Certificants are from the public sector defined benefit and defined contribution communities. The Certified Retirement Counselor Certification® exam tests knowledge of developing and delivering effective education programs that increase the retirement preparedness of American workers. This article provides a look inside what leading public sector retirement plans are doing today […]

Tags: Betty Meredith, public sector retirement plans

Posted in: Public Sector Plans

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Retirement Rants

This is the first of what may become a regular column on issues we all deal with regarding retirement plans. So why rants? Among all the products, people, regulations and results, we all have a few issues to rant about! The goal of this column is not simply for me to shout, but rather to […]

Tags: Michael Falk

Posted in: PROVIDE Retirement Income, Retirement Distributions/Withdrawals, Retirement Income Planning and Spending, Retirement Investing and Investments

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November, 2011 InFRE Update

This is the first issue of the re-launch of InFRE’s quarterly newsletter for our retirement counseling professionals. Each issue will provide you with the opportunity to earn 1 free CE upon successful passage of the related CE exam. Just visit the link here or on the right menu bar, “Continuing Education Exams.” Speaking of CE, the last quarter of […]

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