What’s threatening your clients’ retirement plans

Accumulating a heftyretirementfund isn’t a piece of cake in today’s world. But as this month’s round-up makes clear, sometimes clients are their own worst enemies. Read on for a look at behavioural tendencies and other factors that can endanger retirement plans.

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• Reduce your clients’ stress to contribute to their mental and financial well-being
• Retirement planning and investment – increasingly important for women
• Are low interest rates stopping your clients from securing income guaranteed for as long as they live?

Aging brains can impact investing. Britain just implemented pension reforms that allow citizens to spend or invest their personal pension pots (rather than being obligated to buy an annuity with the cash). The downside, points out the U.K.’s the Telegraph is the very human tendency to make emotional investing decisions that can have a negative impact on retirement assets, particularly as we grow older and more fearful.

Women struggle to gather retirement nest eggs. Sometimes, being a woman is all it takes to put your client’s retirement plans on hold. Women appear to have more problems accumulating enough wealth toretire,no matter whether they live in the U.S. or Australia.

Low interest rates can hurt. Financial Post looks at how low interest rates are persuading retirees to take on greater risk at a time when they should be derisking.

Spending counts too. As advisors know, funding a cushy retirement isn’t just about what people earn during their working years. Consider CNBC’s cautionary tale about the 16 per cent of NFL players who declare bankruptcy within 12 years of retirement, despite making millions. The lesson for clients: it’s all about what you keep and how you invest it.

On the plus side…new tools to accumulate wealth. This Globe and Mail article looks at how doubling the TFSA limit will have positive effects for everyone from young adults to retirees. (Note that since the article came out, the Tories confirmed an annual $10,000 TFSA contribution limit in their budget.)