Products July 8, 2015

FSI Tool Connects Advisers to Congress

The Financial Services Institute wants to help advisers contact the legislators most likely to respond to their appeals. 
Reported by

It’s often observed that members of the U.S. House and Senate only care about the opinions of those voters residing in their respective districts.

According to the Financial Services Institute (FSI), this also largely holds true for members of the business community. To help financial advisers identify and contact the appropriate national legislators, FSI unveiled a new “fiduciary microsite,” at www.MySavingsMyChoice.org.

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The website asks advisers to fill in their basic business and contact information, including address, in order to identify the appropriate Senators and Representatives to contact. The site also directs advisers’ comment letters to the appropriate Department of Labor (DOL) address.

Once their information is entered, advisers are directed to an automatically populated letter template that takes a pretty harsh stance against the pending fiduciary rulemaking from the Department of Labor (DOL). Like other advisory industry groups, FSI says the rule will interfere with financial advisory clients’ ability to work with the adviser of their choosing. Advisers in favor of the rule can also use the site, as FSI gives advisers the capability of clearing the pre-populated letter text to insert their own commentary.

FSI says it is “working directly with its 37,000 financial adviser members and 100+ firm members to reach their current clients asking them to weigh in on the rule. FSI will next provide an extensive comment letter to the DOL on the rule on July 21.”

The pending fiduciary rule language is currently still open for comments. The comment period on the proposals closes on July 21, to be followed by an extended public hearing on the subject. 

Data & Research July 8, 2015

Boomers Overly Optimistic About Work in Retirement

A majority of middle-income Boomers say there are inadequate job opportunities for retirees.
Reported by

Sixty percent of Baby Boomers plan to work during their retirement years, but they are overly optimistic about how much they will be paid, the opportunities that will be available and the flexibility that they will be afforded, according to a survey by Bankers Life Center for a Secure Retirement.

More than a quarter (26%) of non-retirees would not accept a pay cut, while only 21% would accept a significant pay cut, the survey found. The reality is that 53% of currently employed retirees say they are working for much less than they were before they retired.

An overwhelming majority of nonretirees (94%) hope that they will be offered flexible schedules in retirement, such as flex-time (56%), telecommuting (20%), a shortened work week (17%) or job sharing (14%). The reality is just over one-third (37%) of current retirees say they have such accommodating work arrangements.

Among the retirees who have landed a job, 80% said it was easy to find. However, 61% of middle-income Boomers believe there aren’t adequate job opportunities for retired workers.

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Retirees who have landed a job have shown that they are resourceful in terms of getting additional training or education, with 39% of employed retirees saying they have completed work-related classes, education or training since retiring. They are nearly evenly split between having pursued this training on their own (18%) or receiving it from their employer (17%). A mere 4% sought out the training both on their own and with the help of their employer.

The good news is that those retirees who have succeeded in finding work thoroughly enjoy their work, with the majority of the retired workers saying their work is more enjoyable than before they retired. They also enjoy the added income, the job opportunities available to them and socializing with new people. They also noted that working helps them keep mentally and physically fit.

Bankers Life Center for a Secure Retirement’s survey verifies a similar study by the AARP Public Policy Institute that found 26% of people between the ages of 55 and 70 who sought new jobs after a period of unemployment said that employers appeared to believe they were too old and that this is an impediment to people in their age group finding work. Nearly half (48%) said they were earning less than before they retired.

The Blackstone Group conducted the survey of 3,298 middle-income Boomers between the ages of 51 and 69 on behalf of Bankers Life Center for a Secure Retirement. All respondents have annual household income between $25,000 and $100,000.

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