scholarly journals Use of Advisors and Retirement Plan Performance

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 342-356
Author(s):  
Rui Yao ◽  
Weipeng Wu ◽  
Cody Mendenhall
Keyword(s):  
Portfolio Allocation ◽  
Objective Measures ◽  
Retirement Savings ◽  
Defined Benefit ◽  
Defined Contribution ◽  
Retirement Plans ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Retirement Plan ◽  
Research Gap

As defined contribution (DC) plans become more popular than defined benefit (DB) plans, American workers are increasingly responsible for their retirement savings. Because retirement plan participants' portfolio allocation is constrained by the available funds in the plan, the construction of a plan's investment menu has become extremely important. No research has evaluated fund selection in retirement plans or compared plans involving an advisor with self-directed plans. To fill this research gap, this study employs cross-sectional, nationwide data that include 5,570 retirement plans with 100 or more participants in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Results show that in most cases, using advisors is not related to plan performance. Plan sponsors should require advisors to periodically evaluate the performance of plans under their management using objective measures.

Financial Advice, Plan Choice, and Retirement Plan Satisfaction

2020 ◽  
pp. JFCP-18-00050
Author(s):  
Michael P. Ryan ◽  
Brenda J. Cude
Keyword(s):  
Risk Tolerance ◽  
Defined Benefit ◽  
Defined Contribution ◽  
Retirement Plans ◽  
Retirement Plan ◽  
Defined Contribution Plans ◽  
Plan Choice ◽  
Public Sector Employees ◽  
Selection Of

Most private sector employees have access to defined contribution retirement plans while public sector employees often may choose defined benefit or defined contribution plans. This research utilized a survey of faculty to analyze retirement plan satisfaction. Advice from a financial planner was positively associated with satisfaction with portability. Retirement plan knowledge was negatively associated with satisfaction on the decision period. Selection of a defined benefit plan was positively related to four aspects of satisfaction and negatively related to regret. Financial planners assisting individuals who face such choices should acknowledge the decision's challenges and evaluate the client's level of retirement planning knowledge. Focusing on long-term goals and the client's investment and mobility risk tolerance may be helpful, especially after market corrections.

scholarly journals The use of stock options and retirement plans to retain non-executive employees

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 57-72
Author(s):  
Kathleen Weiden ◽  
Jane Mooney
Keyword(s):  
Stock Options ◽  
Stock Option ◽  
Defined Benefit ◽  
Defined Contribution ◽  
Retirement Plans ◽  
Compensation Contracts ◽  
Large Sample ◽  
Retirement Plan ◽  
Defined Contribution Plans ◽  
Defined Benefit Plans

Firms expend significant resources to retain employees. In this paper, we examine how firms that use stock options grant them differently when they also utilize retirement plans in non-executive employee compensation contracts. Using a large sample of US firms, we examine the relation between the stock option proportion of pay of non-executive employees and firms’ use of a retirement plan of any type. We then examine how firms’ use of stock options is affected by the type of plan (defined benefit or defined contribution) used by the firm. We find that firms reduce their use of stock options when there are other deferred pay mechanisms in place, suggesting they act as substitutes. We also find that firms with defined benefit retirement plans reduce their use of stock options for non-executives to a greater extent than firms with defined contribution plans, suggesting a greater degree of substitutability between defined benefit plans and stock options than between defined contribution plans and stock options.

Selecting Mutual Funds for Retirement Accounts (A)

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Phillip A. Braun
Keyword(s):  
Mutual Funds ◽  
Mutual Fund ◽  
First Year ◽  
Retirement Savings ◽  
Defined Contribution ◽  
Management Turnover ◽  
Risk Return ◽  
Retirement Plan ◽  
Retirement Accounts ◽  
Northwestern University

Alice Monroe, a 30-year-old married mother of two, was an admissions officer at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She was just completing her first year of service at Northwestern and qualified for the university's 403(b) retirement plan. It was early October 2017, and she had until the end of the month to decide if and to what extent she would participate in Northwestern's retirement plan–that is, how much of her salary should she put into the retirement plan, and into which mutual fund or funds should she allocate her savings? The case includes background on defined contribution and benefit plans as well as mutual funds. It goes into detail about Northwestern's retirement plan, including data on the performance of 15 of the plan's core mutual funds. The case also provides each fund's strategy, Morningstar Rating and Morningstar Category, expense ratio, assets under management, turnover rate, and historical performance for the last 10 years. Using modern portfolio theory (diversification and risk-return trade-off) and with an understanding of mutual fund fees and the tax advantages of retirement savings, students will decide how much Alice should invest and in which mutual funds.

Retirement concerns and financial literacy in Brunei

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 342-365
Author(s):  
Pg Md Hasnol Alwee Pg Hj Md Salleh ◽  
Roslee Baha
Keyword(s):  
Financial Literacy ◽  
Home Ownership ◽  
Pension Reform ◽  
Defined Benefit ◽  
Defined Contribution ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Financial Advice ◽  
Knowing How ◽  
Retirement Plan

PurposeDespite the inclusion of financial literacy in retirement studies, there are limited studies that look into retirement concerns and how financial literacy plays a role in managing retirement concerns. Understanding retirement concerns prior to retirement is important given how it affects retirement satisfaction. Therefore, this paper aims at assessing the retirement concerns in Brunei and the role of financial literacy in managing those concerns.Design/methodology/approach700 government employees, divided into three groups, were interviewed: Defined Contribution Plan (DCP) employees retiring in the next 10–15 years, DCP employees retiring in 20–30 years' time and Defined Benefit Plan (DBP) employees retiring in the next 10 years. Pearson's chi-square tests and logistic regressions were used to ascertain significant relationships.FindingsThe results indicate the relatively younger DCP group is more likely to be financially literate compared to senior groups however, these respondents are more inclined to focus on private home ownership at this juncture. The findings also indicate the importance of knowing how much to save for retirement towards determining those with an additional retirement plan, and consequently reducing their retirement concerns. The value of financial advice is also significant in determining the amount to save for retirement and in possessing an additional retirement plan.Research limitations/implicationsResults cannot be generalised to the population, as purposive sampling was utilised due to the absence of a population frame.Practical implicationsThe implications of the paper may provide value to policymakers to consider approaches to enhance the quality of financial advice and provide sound knowledge in computing the amount needed for retirement. Understanding the role of financial literacy vis-à-vis retirement concerns may also be useful for neighbouring countries with similar socio-cultural aspects such as Malaysia.Originality/valueGiven the limited research on retirement concerns and financial literacy, this paper is one of the few to emphasise on the importance of knowing how much is needed to save for retirement, in relation to retirement concerns. This may also be useful in other countries/communities with similar retirement context such as those with relatively low retirement planning or with similar retirement schemes. Further, with the 1993 pension reform, there is no known publication on retirement concerns and expectations in Brunei. Left unchecked, it may lead to poverty in old age and/or dependency on welfare institutions and family support.

Why are US men retiring later?

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 442-457
Author(s):  
Wenliang Hou ◽  
Alicia Munnell ◽  
Geoffrey Todd Sanzenbacher ◽  
Yinji Li
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Structural Model ◽  
Retirement Age ◽  
Defined Benefit ◽  
Defined Contribution ◽  
Retirement Plans ◽  
Original Cohort ◽  
The Past ◽  
Retirement Timing ◽  
Retirement Study

AbstractOver the past two decades, the share of individuals claiming Social Security at the Early Eligibility Age has dropped and the average retirement age has increased. At the same time, Social Security rules have changed substantially, employer-sponsored retirement plans have shifted from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC), health has improved, and mortality has decreased. In theory, all of these changes could lead to a trend toward later claiming. Disentangling the effect of any one change is difficult because they have been occurring simultaneously. This paper uses the Gustman and Steinmeier structural model of retirement timing to investigate which of these changes matter most by simulating their effects on the original cohort (1931–1941) of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). The predicted behavior is then compared with the actual retirements of the Early Boomer cohort (1948–1953) to see how much of the later cohort's delayed claiming and retirement can be explained by these changes. The Early Boomer cohort was less likely to be fully retired than the HRS cohort at both age 62 (36.7% vs. 44.0%) and age 64 (49.5% vs. 53.9%). The model suggests that the shift from DB toward DC plans was the biggest contributor to these declines, followed by better health. Social Security rules and improvements in mortality played smaller roles.

Scrambling the Nest Egg: How Well Do Teachers Understand Their Pensions, and What Do They Think about Alternative Pension Structures?

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 558-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael DeArmond ◽  
Dan Goldhaber
Keyword(s):  
Pension Plans ◽  
Washington State ◽  
Retirement Savings ◽  
Defined Benefit ◽  
Defined Contribution ◽  
Administrative Records ◽  
Defined Contribution Plans ◽  
Alternative Plan ◽  
Defined Benefit Plans ◽  
Career Teachers

In this article we focus on two questions: How well do teachers understand their current pension plans, and what do they think about alternative plan structures? The data come from administrative records and a 2006 survey of teachers in Washington State. The results suggest that Washington's teachers are fairly knowledgeable about their pensions, although new entrants and mid-career teachers appear to be less knowledgeable than veterans. As for teachers' preferences for plan structure, the survey suggests that when it comes to investing additional retirement savings, a plurality of teachers favor defined contribution plans that offer more portability and choice but also more risk than traditional defined benefit plans. Again, perhaps unsurprisingly, the findings suggest that, all else equal, teachers newer to the profession are more likely than veterans to favor a defined contribution structure.

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