Products November 28, 2012

Firm Launches Pension Risk Assessment Tool

November 28, 2012 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Rocaton Investment Advisors LLC  rolled out PlanRisk, an online pension risk assessment tool for corporate plan sponsors.
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The free resource gives corporate plan sponsors and stakeholders the ability to assess their plan’s funded status risk ranking versus industry peers, similar size plans and a universe of entities filing Form 5500. Users can also identify the sources of funded status risk, including equity risk and interest rate risk, contributing to the total funded status ranking, as well as narrow the comparison to cash balance plans, open/closed/frozen plans, etc.

The data aims to help investors answer questions such as:

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  • How does my funded status risk compare with my peers’ funded status risk?
  • What are the key factors driving my plan’s funded status risk?
  • How will a change in asset allocation impact my funded status ranking and risk attribution? and
  • How did different asset allocation strategies perform historically—and what was the volatility—on both an asset-only basis and relative to a liability benchmark?

More information is at http://www.rocaton.com.

Benefits November 28, 2012

Health Care Costs Tops Investors' Retirement Worries

November 28, 2012 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Looking ahead to retirement, investors have several financial concerns.
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A T. Rowe Price survey found the top retirement concerns among investors ages 21 to 50 are health care costs (76%), rising taxes (67%), Social Security availability (63%), inflation (61%), long-term care (58%), living too long and running out of money (52%), and housing values (52%).

Only 16% of investors expect to receive full Social Security benefits as currently promised. The remaining 84% expect to receive no Social Security benefits (36%) or some form of reduced benefits when they retire (48%).

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When asked what they are doing differently to prepare for retirement as a result of this Social Security view, the most common responses among the 84%-group were saving more (42%) and planning to work longer (29%); 13% said they are doing nothing about it, 11% said they are investing more aggressively, and 5% said they do not plan to retire.

When asked for ways they are helping their parents or grandparents with financial matters, 19% of investors said they are providing guidance with daily expenses, 15% are providing general retirement planning guidance, 13% are providing direct financial assistance in meeting daily living expenses, and 9% are helping their elders better understand their Social Security options.

For those who provide general retirement planning guidance, only 59% believe their parents or grandparents will have enough money to maintain their desired lifestyle; the remaining 41% believe their elders will not have enough money (26%) or are not sure (15%).

The survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of T. Rowe Price August 8-20, 2012, among 850 adults ages 21 to 50 who have at least one investment account.

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