Segment: Brokerage
Publication date: Monday, December 31, 2007
# Pages: (61 pages)

Abstract | Table of Contents

It is the end of an era, you might say, as the baby boomer generation – 77 million strong – approaches retirement. Clearly, boomers represent a considerable segment of the American population and as they transition from the workforce to retirement, their financial planning needs will also greatly change. Clients may have multiple streams of retirement income – such as Social Security, pensions and retirement accounts – and they need help structuring their finances to reduce taxes and assure they do not outlive their savings.

As we browsed Broker Monitor firms’ sites, we found that information and tools related to retirement income planning vary. All but three firms address the issue on their sites to some degree; however, we were generally unimpressed with the website content. A number of firms offer generic calculators, while two firms provide sophisticated, multi-step planning tools. Educational content was generally light, although one firm in particular impressed us with its array of information and tools.

As far as programs and services for retirement income planning, we found little to report out there. One Broker Monitor firm currently offers an account specifically designed for retirement income planning, and two firms – one self-directed and one full-service – have attached “brand names” to their retirement income planning packages. Seventy-two percent of all Broker Monitor firms offer advisory services for retirement income planning to qualified clients. As far as products designed to produce income in retirement, retirement income mutual funds appear to be the major alternative to annuities – something that was promoted by 17% of firms.

Subjects

Retirement, Marketing, cross-selling

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