AAII

Dividend Yields Are Higher Now Than in Recent Years
April 2025 by Charles Rotblut
Stocks with yields significantly higher than current medians are alluring, but it’s essential to thoroughly analyze the stock before investing.

PEG Ratio Unreliable as a Market-Wide Indicator
April 2025 by Tudor Pop
A study examined whether the price-earnings-to-earnings-growth (PEG) ratio can be used as a market timing tool.

Retirement Reality Check: Who’s Ready and Who’s at Risk?
April 2025 by Omar Beirat
Retirement readiness in the U.S. varies significantly by income level, with lower-income workers needing to replace a larger share of their pre-retirement income but facing greater shortfalls in doing so.

How Fear and Overconfidence Directly Affect Market Behavior
March 2025 by Tudor Pop
Investor emotions cause asset mispricing, which leads to temporary market inefficiencies.

Mind Over Money: Financial Awareness Drives Smarter Decisions
March 2025 by Omar Beirat
Higher financial awareness levels lead to increased savings, lower credit card delinquency and improved retirement planning.

Rising Egg Prices and Inflation
March 2025 by Charles Rotblut
The outsized increase in the price of eggs relative to overall inflation makes it easy to perceive inflation as being higher than it really is.

Adviser Communication Gaps Can Lead to Inadequate Retirement Preparation
February 2025 by Tudor Pop
A research study reveals a disconnect between financial advisers and their clients on whether important retirement discussions are held.

Returns for Asset Class Groups: Big Back-to-Back Gains for Large-Cap Stocks
February 2025 by Charles Rotblut
For the first time in nearly a quarter of a century, large-cap stocks rose by more than 20% during each of the last two years.

The Challenges of Discounted Cash Flow and How to Handle Them
February 2025 by Omar Beirat
Discounted cash flow (DCF) models provide a structured framework for valuing investments, but their reliability is often compromised by their dependence on uncertain long-term projections and assumptions about the future.

Cognitive Decline Worsens Investors’ Returns
January 2025 by Omar Beirat
Cognitive decline and behavioral biases reduce the investment performance of older mutual fund investors, with middle-aged investors achieving the highest returns while older groups experience lower returns.

Stocks and Diversification Proven to Build Wealth Across Two Centuries
January 2025 by Tudor Pop
A new analysis found that the long-term premium from owning stocks has existed over a longer time period than has been commonly believed.

The Level3 Withdrawal Strategy Stays in Normal Mode
January 2025 by Charles Rotblut
The Level3 withdrawal strategy is calling for retirees to withdraw from their equity holdings for 2025.

Changing Dynamics Portend Greater Volatility in U.S. Treasuries
December 2024 by Omar Beirat
A shift in investor composition for U.S. Treasuries has significantly increased price sensitivity among buyers, altering Treasury yields and market dynamics.

Comparing the Standard Deduction With and Without the TCJA
December 2024 by Charles Rotblut
An illustration of how much the standard deduction has grown while the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has been in effect.

Equity Factors That Stand the Test of Time
December 2024 by Tudor Pop
A study analyzing U.S. equity factors from 1866 to the 2020s finds that factors such as value, momentum and low risk are robust and persistent.

Buybacks Bounce Back in 2024
November 2024 by Omar Beirat
Corporate buybacks are showing a notable resurgence in 2024 after a significant decline in activity last year.

How Does the CPI Compare to the PCE Price Index as a Measure of Inflation?
November 2024 by Tudor Pop
The Federal Reserve uses the personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index as the preferred method of measuring inflation instead of the more familiar consumer price index (CPI).

Social Security: A Closer Look at the 2025 Adjustments
November 2024 by Charles Rotblut
The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to both Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for tax-year 2025.

Improving the Efficiency of Multifactor Stock Strategies
October 2024 by Tudor Pop
Researchers worked on a methodology to limit the economic risks of stock-picking strategies that are based on combining factors.

Interest Rates on Savings Still High as Rate-Cut Cycle Begins
October 2024 by Charles Rotblut
Two charts show the trends in interest rates since 2021.

Using Intrinsic Value to Identify Promising Value Stocks
October 2024 by Omar Beirat
A study shows that a fundamental ratio based on intrinsic value can outperform traditional valuation metrics in predicting stock returns, especially in low-interest-rate environments.

401(k) Managed Accounts Are an Underutilized Resource
September 2024 by Max Hayes
A study by Cerulli Associates outlines the value proposition of 401(k) managed accounts and their associated benefits for retirement plan participants.

Backtests Reveal Strength of Buffett Indicator as a Long-Term Market Predictor
September 2024 by Tudor Pop
A study tested Warren Buffett’s belief that looking at the value of the equity market relative to the gross domestic product (GDP) could be a good predictor of stock market mispricings.

Bond Market’s Inflation Expectations Near Fed’s Target
September 2024 by Charles Rotblut
Federal fund futures were pricing in a high probability of an interest rate cut being announced following the September Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting as we went to press.

Clickbait or Cash Cow? The Cost of Following Finfluencers
August 2024 by Omar Beirat
Financial influencers on social media often give poor advice, prioritizing fame and money over genuine financial education.

Institutional Trading Confirms Mispricing in Value and Glamour Stocks
August 2024 by Max Hayes, Tudor Pop
Institutional investors exploit expectation errors in value versus glamour stocks by buying value stocks with strong fundamentals and selling glamour stocks with weak fundamentals.

Large-Cap Stocks' Rally Rooted in Artificial Intelligence
August 2024 by Charles Rotblut
The S&P 500 index’s strong performance for the first half of 2024 is attributable to its technology-related stocks.

Minimizing Index Rebalancing Costs in Passive Funds Can Improve Returns
July 2024 by Omar Beirat
Strategic approaches to rebalancing can minimize passive funds’ trading costs, which are usually passed on to investors.

Projecting the Effect of Retirement Matches for Student Loan Repayments
July 2024 by Eunice Kim
While altering loan repayment behaviors, employer 401(k) matches for student debt payments are not predicted to materially change retirement payouts.

The Implications of High Concentration in the S&P 500
July 2024 by Charles Rotblut
Concentration tells you how much of an index’s or portfolio’s returns are influenced by its largest positions.

Eliminating Low-Quality and Poor Momentum Stocks Helps Sidestep Value Traps
June 2024 by Omar Beirat
Investors can potentially boost returns and reduce risk by steering clear of value traps, particularly by screening out low-quality stocks.

Psychological Factors Strongly Influence the Timing of Social Security Benefits
June 2024 by Eunice Kim
Feelings of ownership and loss aversion drive many to claim their Social Security benefits early, despite the economic benefits of delaying claims to maximize payouts.

Yield Shift Increases Relative Attractiveness of Bonds
June 2024 by Charles Rotblut
The Treasury bond’s yield was approaching a full percentage point above the earnings yield for the S&P 500 index as of early May 2024.

Discipline and Diversification: Two Big Keys for Investor Success
May 2024 by Omar Beirat
Staying the course, especially during periods of volatility, leads to more favorable outcomes.

Higher Emotional Intelligence May Lead to Better Investing Outcomes
May 2024 by Andrew Gomes
Developing emotional intelligence and being mindful of cognitive biases can help investors navigate the market more effectively and make better-informed decisions.

Tech-Related Stocks and Interest Rates Drive Allocation Model Returns
May 2024 by Charles Rotblut
A cursory glance at the performance of the individual mutual funds used to track the AAII Asset Allocation Models reveals the story of what happened during the first quarter of 2024.

Adjusting Target Asset Allocation to Correct for Impending Taxes
April 2024 by Grace Malone
The consequence of ignoring taxes in a tax-deferred portfolio is holding an unintentionally riskier portfolio.

Second-Highest Average Tax Refund in at Least 10 Years
April 2024 by Charles Rotblut
Larger average refunds are being issued this year because of the inflationary adjustments made for tax-year 2023.

Stocks Not Always Top Dog: A Challenge to Mean Reversion
April 2024 by Eunice Kim
Stocks don’t always beat bonds, and a 100% stock portfolio does not necessarily outperform a stock/bond blend.

Higher Fixed-Income Returns Boost Safe Withdrawal Rates
March 2024 by Grace Malone
Morningstar’s study of retirement income showed a higher safe withdrawal rate in 2023 than previous years due to stronger fixed-income yields.

Indexers Can Exclude Some Stocks Without Affecting Returns
March 2024 by Andrew Gomes
Excluding a low to moderate number of stocks from a passive portfolio following an index has minimal influence on investor performance.

The S&P 500 at 5,000: Don't Be Fooled by Point Hype
March 2024 by Charles Rotblut
There is an obvious difference between point moves and percentage changes.

Forecasting Returns Through Changes in the Language of News
February 2024 by Eunice Kim
Quantifying the novelty of news with an entropy measure helps to predict stock market trends and macroeconomic outcomes for the subsequent year.

Informal Care Essential to Narrowing the Long-Term Care Expense Gap
February 2024 by Grace Malone
When examining elder care in the U.S., informal care is often more significant than formal care.

Returns for Asset Class Groups: Large-Cap Stocks Rebound Back Into the Lead
February 2024 by Charles Rotblut
The rebound in 2023 is very evident in the heat map of the calendar-year returns for the seven major asset class groups.

Even When Using a CPA, Taxpayers Must Ensure Their Returns Are Filed
January 2024 by Andrew Gomes
It is the responsibility of the taxpayer to ensure their tax return has been filed, even when an accountant or other tax preparer is hired, ruled the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

Level3 Withdrawal Strategy Switches Back to Normal Mode
January 2024 by Charles Rotblut
The Level3 withdrawal strategy is calling for retirees to withdraw from their equity holdings at the beginning of 2024.

Wealth and Retirement: Climate-Induced Financial Vulnerabilities
January 2024 by Eunice Kim
Extreme weather events have negative implications on income and retirement savings, particularly among younger individuals.

Different 12b-1 Fees Among a Fund's Share Classes Create a Conflict of Interest
December 2023 by Eunice Kim
When a fund has a range of share classes with different 12b-1 fees, an incentive exists for distributors to steer investors to the class with the higher fee.

Systematic Investing Offers More Discipline But Also More Challenges
December 2023 by Grace Malone
Following data-driven strategies allows investors to avoid behavioral errors in decision-making, but these tools are frequently misused and lack adaptability to changing circumstances.

The Impact on the Standard Deduction of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
December 2023 by Charles Rotblut
Larger standard deductions make it harder to itemize deductions. This is a double-edged sword.

Actively Managed Funds Gain on Passive Funds Over the Last Year
November 2023 by Grace Malone
Fifty-seven percent of actively managed funds beat their average passive peers over the 12-month period through June 2023, their highest success rate in years.

Newer Niche ETFs Underperform Compared to Their Older Index Counterparts
November 2023 by Andrew Gomes
Specialty exchange-traded funds (ETFs) lose approximately 30% of their value over a post-launch period of five years.

Third-Highest Social Security COLA Since the Global Financial Crisis
November 2023 by Charles Rotblut
Last month, the Social Security Administration announced a 3.2% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to both Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. The increase will take effect in January 2024.

Professional Investors Reaffirm the Relevance of Equity Factors
October 2023 by Grace Malone
An MSCI survey asked global institutional investors and wealth managers about their current thinking in regard to equity factors and how the role of factors is evolving in their asset allocation decisions.

S&P 500's Price-Earnings Ratio at High End of 60-Year Range
October 2023 by Charles Rotblut
As of the end of August 2023, the S&P 500 index was trading with a price-earnings ratio of 25.7.

Which Quality Attributes Best Signal Outperformance?
October 2023 by Andrew Gomes
Researchers examined the attributes of the quality factor to see which showed the most reliability as a source of return premium.

Analysts Are Raising Earnings Estimates Following Second-Quarter Beats
September 2023 by Charles Rotblut
Second-quarter 2023 earnings season exceeded expectations by the highest margin in nearly two years.

Change of Plans: Americans Retiring Later in Life
September 2023 by Eunice Kim
Over the past three decades, the retirement age of American workers has trended upward.

Do Star Fund Managers Stay on Top After Switching Firms?
September 2023 by Pratham Shah
A study delves into whether investors should follow successful fund managers when they shift to a new firm.

Correlation Between High Valuation and Low Returns Confirmed
August 2023 by Grace Malone
A study assesses how well starting valuations have historically predicted future high-yield bond and stock returns and what current valuations could suggest for those returns.

ETF Sector Performance: Technology on the Rebound
August 2023 by Charles Rotblut
Exchange-traded funds targeting tech stocks were up a sizzling 28.8% during the first half of 2023.

Record-High Participation in Retirement Plans
August 2023 by Andrew Gomes
Vanguard’s annual look at the performance of nearly five million defined-contribution plan participants shows encouraging results.

Do Firms That Receive Non-Income Tax Relief Outperform?
July 2023 by Grace Malone
A study looked at whether a corporate reduction in taxes not based on income has an impact on the stock’s performance.

MegaCap-8 Stocks Lead Resurgence in Large-Cap Growth
July 2023 by Charles Rotblut
The eight so-called MegaCap-8 companies accounted for 26.4% of the S&P 500 index’s total market capitalization as of June 9, 2023.

Reasons That Investors Part Ways With Their Financial Adviser
July 2023 by Pratham Shah
There are several common, but multi-dimensional, reasons that advisers are terminated by their clients according to research by Morningstar.

Did Value Investing Ever Go Away?
June 2023 by Pratham Shah
With value and growth stocks tending to move in cycles, investors are taking renewed interest in value investing after its outperformance in 2022.

I Bond Yields Are Down From Their Peak
June 2023 by Charles Rotblut
How composite rates for Series I bonds issued within the last five years have evolved.

Timing the Market Using Factors
June 2023 by Pratham Shah
An AQR Capital Management study suggests that in addition to traditional price momentum, capturing the momentum of characteristic-based factors may boost returns.

Auto Rollovers May Lead to Account Abandonment
May 2023 by Grace Malone
Employees whose retirement plan assets are automatically rolled over into an IRA when they leave their jobs are at greater risk of losing track of their accounts.

Has the January Effect Widened?
May 2023 by Jamie Fan
A study hypothesized that the January effect may have expanded to include the second half of December and the first half of February.

How Shadow Stock Metrics Have Evolved Over Time
May 2023 by Charles Rotblut
AAII's Model Shadow Stock Portfolio is based on data showing an advantage to investing in small and deep-value stocks.

IRAs Have Gained Importance in Individuals' Retirement Plans
April 2023 by Cynthia McLaughlin
Different types of IRAs have increasingly grown as a significant component to an individual’s retirement plan.

Retirement Plans Add Flexibility to Keep Assets Put After Leaving Work
April 2023 by Grace Malone
Nearly three-quarters of defined-contribution plan participants aged 60 and older leave their employer’s plan within five years after separating and roll those assets to an IRA.

Stock and Bond Yields Are Converging
April 2023 by Charles Rotblut
The earnings yield is frequently used to assess the valuation of stocks compared to the valuation of bonds.

Early Retirement Linked to Cognitive Decline
March 2023 by Sean Murphy
Early retirement can accelerate cognitive decline due to a reduction in social interaction and activities requiring individuals to be mentally sharp.

No Tax Deduction Allowed on Worthless Cryptocurrency While Held
March 2023 by Jack Gilleland
A loss in a cryptocurrency cannot be claimed as a deduction for tax purposes solely because the asset declined to the point of having almost no value.

Tracking Dividends Versus Buybacks
March 2023 by Derek J. Hageman
Recent tracking of S&P 500 stocks shows that companies are clearly spending more on buybacks than dividends.

Asset Class Group Returns: Short-Term Bonds Lead During a Rough Year
February 2023 by Charles Rotblut
The year 2022 was a tough one for asset allocators as returns were down across the board.

Dividends Help Investors Maintain Their Standard of Living
February 2023 by Jack Gilleland
Investors who rely on their investments to maintain their standard of living throughout their retirement years often create “homemade dividends” by periodically selling shares.

Millionaires Worry $1 Million Is Not Enough for Retirement
February 2023 by Sean Murphy
Thirty-five percent of high-net-worth investors think it will take a miracle to achieve a secure retirement, a survey found.

Exposure to the Size Factor Drives Equal-Weight Outperformance
January 2023 by Jack Gilleland
Examining the key drivers of equal-weighted portfolios outperforming value-weighted portfolios over multiple decades.

Level3 Withdrawal Strategy Goes Into Defensive Mode
January 2023 by Charles Rotblut
Following last year’s bear market, AAII’s Level3 withdrawal strategy calls for retirees to withdraw from their defensive (“safe”) assets and not equities in 2023.

Younger Adults Are Increasingly Participating in 401(k) Plans
January 2023 by Sean Murphy
An annual analysis of 401(k) retirement plans showed that 38% of plan participants were in their 20s or 30s as of year-end 2020.

Collectors Seek Lottery-Like Returns in NFTs
December 2022 by Jack Gilleland
The allure of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for many is the hope of a profitable investment, but a study found signs of the lottery effect at play.

Out-of-Pocket Medical Fees Eat Into Retirees’ Discretionary Income
December 2022 by Matthew Bajkowski
Although almost all retirees over the age of 65 are covered by Medicare, many still face significant out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses for medical treatments.

Savings Account Yields Are the Highest Since 2008
December 2022 by Charles Rotblut
After more than a decade of extremely low interest rates, savers are finally seeing yields on their cash savings rise.

An Unusually Volatile Year
November 2022 by Charles Rotblut
The S&P 500 index is experiencing one of its most volatile years since the financial crisis of 2007–2009.

Execution Prices Vary Significantly for Commission-Free Trades
November 2022 by Jack Gilleland
Brokers charging zero commissions does not necessarily mean “free” to the investor due to the practice of payment for order flow.

Shareholder Proposals Jumped During Proxy Season
November 2022 by Sean Murphy
The 2022 proxy season saw increased shareholder proposals and lower support for Say on Pay and directors.

Gift Checks Must Be Cashed to Be Excluded From an Estate
October 2022 by Zach Banning
The U.S. Tax Court ruled that writing a gift check prior to death is not sufficient to exclude the gift amount from an estate.

Obstacles and Aversion Hinder Applying Online for Social Security
October 2022 by Issac Deleon
Baby boomers approaching retirement are driving up demand for Social Security Administration (SSA) services at a time when the agency’s ability to provide these services is being constrained by tight budgets and departing staff.

The Bear Market Has Reduced Valuations for Most Sectors
October 2022 by Charles Rotblut
Stocks go on sale when bear markets occur. The drop in prices gives investors the opportunity to pick up many stocks at reduced valuations.

Expense Ratios Can Make or Break Your Portfolio
September 2022 by Zach Banning
Rolling over an employer-sponsored 401(k) retirement account into an IRA that offers the same mutual funds often leads to lower overall returns.

It's Been Difficult for the Fed to Pull Off Economic Soft Landings
September 2022 by Charles Rotblut
Most prior rate-hike cycles have been followed by recessions, so-called hard landings. Only one of the 11 previous rate-tightening cycles has resulted in a perfect soft landing.

Rise in Partisanship Causing Fall in Returns for Shareholders
September 2022 by Issac Deleon
For more than a decade, executive teams in U.S. firms have become increasingly partisan. Between 2008 and 2020, researchers found that the partisanship of executive teams increased by 7.7 percentage points.

Companies Sacrifice Profits to Build Customer Base
August 2022 by Sean Murphy
Over the last few decades, so-called “mega-companies” with negative earnings have become increasingly popular.

Ways to Boost Returns Following a Change to the S&P 500 Index
August 2022 by Jack Gilleland
Passive funds tracking market-capitalization-weighted indexes like the S&P 500 index generally buy high and sell low as they attempt to mimic changes made to the index.

Yield Curve Inverted, but Not Yet Signaling a Recession
August 2022 by Charles Rotblut
The yield curve is a closely watched harbinger of recessions. Inverted yield curves have previously preceded most recessions over the past 50 years.

CAPE Ratio Is High, but Down From Peak
July 2022 by Charles Rotblut
The cyclically adjusted price-earnings (CAPE) ratio is a widely followed, long-term measure of the stock market’s valuation.

Environmental Regulation Uncertainty Pushes Bond Yields Up
July 2022 by Jack Gilleland
Uncertainty about future environmental regulatory changes is raising the perceived risk of bonds from issuers with poor environmental profiles or high carbon emissions.

Mercury Retrograde Adversely Affects Stock Returns
July 2022 by Sean Murphy
Stock market returns are lower during the periods when it appears that Mercury’s rotation is backward than at other times of the year.

Breakeven Rates Signaling a Potential Slowing of Inflation
June 2022 by AAII Staff
As of mid-May 2022, expectations for future inflation show short-term signs of having peaked.

Early Cash-Out Can Significantly Impact Retirement Income
June 2022 by Sean Murphy
Younger adults with small retirement accounts are prone to small cash-outs, which can significantly impact retirement income, data shows.

Live Chat Forums Associated With Higher-Returning Stocks
June 2022 by Jack Gilleland
Live (synchronous) group chats help investors find stocks likely to outperform and are more informative than investing forums that are geared to individual posts and comments (asynchronous).

Earnings Expectations Lowered for Most Sectors
May 2022 by Charles Rotblut
Earnings estimate revisions indicate whether analysts are more optimistic or pessimistic about a company’s prospects.

Level of Financial Literacy Impacts Retirement Preparedness
May 2022 by Adam Scheg
Near-retirees would be expected to take actions to reduce the odds of running out of money in retirement, yet the data shows that this is not universally the case.

Tapping Home Equity Improves Health Recovery
May 2022 by Charles Griswold
Having better access to borrowing against home equity significantly improves recoveries after health shocks. The ability to utilize home equity decreases the probability of a health shock being “uncontrolled.”

Criticisms of Short-Termism in Corporate Spending Misplaced
April 2022 by Jack Gilleland
A law professor at Harvard University set out to investigate the claims that companies practice “short-termism” by seeking favorable outcomes in the present at the expense of the future.

Small-Cap Stocks Still Cheap on a Relative Basis
April 2022 by AAII Staff
Comparing the price-to-book ratio of the stocks in a small-cap index to that of a large-cap index gives a visual sense of the current relative valuation between large and small stocks.

The Coming Shift in Drawdown Patterns Among Retirees
April 2022 by Charles Griswold
The lack of access to defined-benefit plans can result in the baby boomer generation underestimating their drawdown speed.

The Value of Annuities Varies by Type & Purchaser
March 2022 by Dylan Dease
Recent changes to annuities raise the question of whether these investments are more costly than beneficial.

Tracking the Market's Expectations for Interest Rate Hikes
March 2022 by AAII Staff
A measure we follow to gauge expectations for monetary policy is the CME FedWatch Tool.

What Drives Variation in Investor Portfolios?
March 2022 by Charles Griswold
Differences in income, wealth, age, retirement, education, employment and past fund returns can affect investment behavior such as asset class allocation.

Asset Class Group Performance: Large Caps Lead in 2021
February 2022 by Charles Rotblut
The importance of diversification becomes clear when looking at a heat-map ranking of the asset class groups by their performance for each of the last 10 years.

Personal Consumption Rates After Retirement
February 2022 by Adam Scheg
Financial planners and researchers often assume that retirees would like to maintain a constant standard of living. However, several studies suggest that retired households decrease their consumption over time.

Where Bitcoin Transactions Are Concentrated
February 2022 by Charles Griswold
While bitcoin is often used by those who desire to remain anonymous, one defining characteristic is transaction transparency.

A Tax Audit Does Not Waive Filing Deadlines
January 2022 by Adam Scheg
Being audited cannot be used as an excuse for failing to meet deadlines for filing returns, filing a request for an extension or paying owed taxes.

Generational Financial Literacy and Well-Being
January 2022 by Charles Griswold
A study found that Generation Z adults (ages 18 to 23) exhibit lower financial literacy compared to older generations, with financial well-being directly tied to literacy levels.

Level3 Withdrawal Strategy: S&P 500 Near High in December 2021
January 2022 by Charles Rotblut
To commemorate the month of Jim Cloonan’s birthday and pay homage to the legacy of education he left us, we offer an updated example of his retirement withdrawal approach using recent market conditions.

Effects of Monetary Policy on Emerging Markets
December 2021 by Jack Gilleland
The effects of monetary policy on the U.S. equities market are often scrutinized but can also be seen in the flow of money to other markets outside the U.S.

ETF Ownership Has Been Beneficial to ADRs
December 2021 by Dylan Dease
Increased exchange-traded fund (ETF) ownership has been beneficial to American depositary receipts (ADRs).

Investors Show Bias Toward 52-Week Highs
December 2021 by Matthew Bajkowski
Stocks near their 52-week high price exhibit higher liquidity than stocks far from that price point.

The Pandemic Altered Retirement Plans for Many
December 2021 by Adam Scheg
The coronavirus pandemic has changed the timing and savings of retirement for tens of millions of Americans in the last year.

Minimum Disclosure by Brokers and Advisers
November 2021 by Adam Scheg
Regulations intended to provide investors with more information about their financial advisers’ business practices have fallen short, according to Morningstar.

Postponing Retirement Slows Cognitive Decline
November 2021 by Anine Sus
Working for a few years longer than planned might help to maintain cognitive function for a longer period of time in retirement.

Reaction to Being Added to or Removed From the S&P 500 Is Lessening
November 2021 by Dylan Dease
The index effect has been weakening over time, according to an analysis by S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Robinhood Traders Found to Underperform
November 2021 by Jack Gilleland
Robinhood has quickly become one of the most popular broker platforms among individual investors. Popularity, however, does not correlate with successful investing, according to a study published in the Journal of Finance.

Fund Fees Continue Their Decline
October 2021 by Adam Scheg
The cost of owning mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) continues to decrease.

How Retirees Handle Portfolio Allocation, Income and Spending
October 2021 by Matthew Bajkowski
Three trends regarding the actions that a majority of pre-retirees and new retirees take with their portfolios were found.

Many 401(k) Participants in the Dark on Fees
October 2021 by Dylan Dease
Many workers do not understand the expenses they incur when participating in a workplace retirement plan.

Target-Date Funds Popular in Younger Demographics
October 2021 by Jack Gilleland
Many investors are including more target-date funds in their investment strategies, a trend particularly exhibited by younger investors.

Directors Willing to Sacrifice Shareholder Value Over CEO Pay
September 2021 by Dylan Dease
More than half of corporate directors (67%) say they would sacrifice shareholder value to avoid conflict or “controversy” regarding pay for CEOs.

ESG Initiatives Gain Momentum in 2021
September 2021 by Dylan Dease
As shareholders become increasingly invested in environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives, the number of negotiated proposals is rising.

FIRE Followers Need to Adjust the 4% Rule
September 2021 by Jack Gilleland
Withdrawing 4% from retirement savings and then increasing that amount during each subsequent year of retirement is not appropriate for all retirees.

Inflation Not a Major Hindrance to Investment Returns
September 2021 by Adam Scheg
Though inflation erodes purchasing power—the ability to buy goods and services with a set amount of money—it is not as damaging to investment returns, a study finds.

Bankruptcy Protection for Inherited 401(k)s
August 2021 by Matthew Bajkowski
A bankruptcy court ruled that an inherited 401(k) cannot be included in the list of assets accessible to creditors during bankruptcy.

Challenging the Conventional Wisdom of Roth IRA Conversions
August 2021 by AAII Staff
Recent changes to IRAs have led a professor emeritus at Santa Clara University to call for adjusting the established thinking regarding Roth IRAs.

Companies Are Including ESG Measures in Compensation Incentives
August 2021 by AAII Staff
Almost half (45%) of Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 index (FTSE 100) companies have some form of environmental, social and governance ESG measures within their executive pay.

Retirement Plan Participants Kept Saving Despite Pandemic
August 2021 by Anine Sus
Despite the coronavirus pandemic’s impact in 2020, most retirement plan participants did not make trades, loan use fell and only a small minority took withdrawals.

Estate Tax Filing Error Costs Executor
July 2021 by Anine Sus
Merely delegating the filing of an estate tax return is not enough to exempt an estate from late-filing and late-payment fees.

Identity Theft Alone Not Enough to Claim Breach of Fiduciary Duty
July 2021 by Matthew Bajkowski
A U.S. district court dismissed a claim against retirement plan fiduciaries after account funds were stolen by an identity thief.

Multiple Factors Impact How Employees Manage Retirement Savings
July 2021 by AAII Staff
A worker’s income, education level, marital status, level of debt and employment status have been found to have a major impact in determining what they do with their 401(k) and other defined-contribution (DC) retirement accounts.

Why Do Women Invest Less Than Men?
July 2021 by AAII Staff
Women participate on the capital markets less than men do, but this difference is not always attributable to gender.

Financial Problems May Precede Alzheimer’s Diagnosis
June 2021 by AAII Staff
Deteriorating financial capabilities appear to be among the earliest signs of cognitive decline.

Individual Investors Follow Opportunistic Inside Traders
June 2021 by AAII Staff
When insiders buy opportunistically, individual investors tend to follow.

What Triggers Market Jumps?
June 2021 by AAII Staff
Market cycles are expected, but the reasons for a switch to an up or down market are less understood.

Workers Remain Confident in Comfortable Retirement
June 2021 by Anine Sus
Workers are confident they will live comfortably in retirement despite the tumultuous year that 2020 was.

5 Critical Decisions for Retirement Income
May 2021 by AAII Staff
Pre-retirees need to make five important decisions about their retirement long before they start drawing upon their savings.

Automatic Enrollment Positively Impacts 401(k) Participants
May 2021 by AAII Staff
Automatically opting employees into their workplace retirement plans has a strong influence on participant saving and investment behavior.

Fund Managers Often Turn Down ESG Proposals
May 2021 by AAII Staff
Despite the accelerating interest in sustainability resolutions, asset managers nearly always vote against environmental and social proposals.

Spending on Essentials in Retirement Is Not Fixed
May 2021 by Anine Sus
Contrary to expected behavior, retirees tend to reduce their spending for basic needs more than that for non-essentials.

A Board’s Composition Influences Dividend Policy
April 2021 by AAII Staff
Gender diversity in a company’s board of directors was found to be associated with a higher likelihood of dividend payments and an increase in the yield of the dividend paid.

Half of Directors Want a Board Member Replaced
April 2021 by Anine Sus
PwC’s 2020 Annual Corporate Directors Survey asked directors how they felt about their peers, crisis management plans, diversity and environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.

Investors Miss Performance Signals
April 2021 by Matthew Bajkowski
Research found that investors only price in negative changes once they have occurred, even if they were preceded by a predictable pattern of updated financial reports.

Making Retirement Decisions Together Affects Preferences
April 2021 by AAII Staff
When given information about how making retirement decisions in aggregate instead of alone affects outcomes, retirees changed their preferences.

A Slowing Reversion to the Mean for Value Stocks?
March 2021 by Matthew Bajkowski
The prolonged underperformance of value stocks relative to the market may be explained as a slowing of long-term market profitability trends, according to a portfolio manager and analyst with Invesco.

Employers Keeping Retirement Match Steady
March 2021 by Anine Sus
The majority of employers did not change their retirement account contribution formula in 2020 in spite of the coronavirus pandemic.

Perception of Extreme Returns Depends on Experience
March 2021 by AAII Staff
The one-day returns an investor has previously experienced from any of the stocks they hold have a large effect on their selling behavior.

Specialized ETFs Disappoint Despite Charging More
March 2021 by AAII Staff
Specialized exchange-traded funds—ETFs targeting specific sectors or investing based on prevailing themes—charged higher fees and deliver poor risk-adjusted performance.

How Much of Your Retirement Income Will Go to Taxes?
February 2021 by AAII Staff
One of the biggest retirement planning mistakes people make is not taking into account the taxes they will have to pay on their retirement income.

One-Third of Employees Are Withdrawing From Retirement Accounts
February 2021 by Anine Sus
Thirty-three percent of workers have already or plan to take a loan or withdrawal from their retirement account due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Size Factor Effect Present in S&P Index Funds
February 2021 by Matthew Bajkowski
New flows of money into equity index funds have markedly different effects on the prices of assets than are theoretically implied by capital asset pricing modeling (CAPM).

The Impact Life Milestones Have on Wealth
February 2021 by AAII Staff
To better understand wealth disparities, researchers examined changes in wealth during life milestones such as marriage, divorce, childrearing, homeownership, retirement, the onset of health shocks and widowhood.

Gold Price Neither Predicts Inflation Nor Protects Against It
January 2021 by Matthew Bajkowski
Over the past 45 years, real gold prices have risen when fears about high future inflation have been heightened, a study found. However, once gold prices peaked, returns were negative.

Negative News Precedes Drop in Stocks With Big Price Gains
January 2021 by AAII Staff
Stocks that crash after price run-ups have more negative sentiment in earnings news during their run-up period than stocks that don’t crash.

Outperform Target-Date Funds By Replicating Their Portfolios
January 2021 by AAII Staff
A study found that portfolios of ETFs created to match a target-date fund can offer average higher returns for lower costs.

Sustainability Ratings Tank Fund Performance
January 2021 by Anine Sus
Attempts by mutual funds to improve their Morningstar sustainability ratings in order to attract more investor dollars led to lower performance ratings.

Adding Positive Language in Reports Is Associated With Higher Returns
December 2020 by AAII Staff
Stocks with the least-similar positive language in their annual 10-K and quarterly 10-Q filings performed better than those that had the most-similar language. The monthly performance advantage was 0.41% for companies with the least-similar positive language. These returns are not dependent on the change of investor sentiment, which would be what one might expect.

Both Wage and Non-Wage Income Influence Retirees’ Willingness to Work
December 2020 by AAII Staff
Whether people choose to work in retirement is dependent both on the earnings available to them by working and how much non-labor income they have. A one-percent increase in wage income increases the probability of men working by 0.246%. For women, the increased probability of working is 0.056%. Pension entitlements have the opposite effect. A one-percent increase in entitlements reduces employment for retired men by 0.165% and for women by 0.055%.

Millionaires' Attitude Toward Risk Differs From Popular Theories
December 2020 by Anine Sus
Many wealthy investors do not believe that higher risk translates to higher returns. A study of over 2,000 people in the U.S. with at least $1 million of investable assets looked at how popular academic theories apply to the way they invest.

Sequence Risk: Is It Really a Big Deal?
December 2020 by AAII Staff
Sequence risk refers to the chance of running out of money in retirement due to a period of bad returns. While it can occur, Javier Estrada of Spain’s IESE Business School argues that sequence risk is commonly over-exaggerated, leading retirees to pursue overly conservative asset allocation strategies or reduce their standard of living.

401(k) Balances for Consistent Participants Fueled by Equity
November 2020 by Anine Sus
The average 401(k) participant’s account balance rose each year from 2010 through the end of 2017, before decreasing in 2018.

Investors Unaware of Cognitive Decline Are Likelier to Lose Wealth
November 2020 by AAII Staff
Older adults who are unaware that they have experienced a decline in their cognitive abilities are more likely to incur losses of wealth, relative to those who don’t incur such cognitive declines or are aware of their impairments.

Mid-Caps Outperformed Large Stocks Thanks to Active Fund Ownership
November 2020 by AAII Staff
Stocks that were moved from the large-cap S&P 500 index to the S&P MidCap 400 index outperformed those that were moved from the S&P MidCap 400 to the S&P 500.

Resurrecting the Value Premium by Improving Its Measure
November 2020 by AAII Staff
Researchers with investment firm Robeco Quantitative Investments suggest that the value premium can be improved upon by using a composite measure instead of solely relying on the book value.

Failing to Buy and Hold Leads to Higher Realized Volatility
October 2020 by AAII Staff
The volatility of investor returns is higher than the corresponding volatility of buy-and-hold stock returns in almost all specifications.

Retirees Don't Accurately Perceive Their Risks
October 2020 by Anine Sus
Retirees’ expectations of their future risks differ from the more probable risks they will encounter.

The Size Premium Still Exists
October 2020 by AAII Staff

Trading in Odd Lots Is Increasing
October 2020 by AAII Staff

Broker Notifications Push Investors to Higher Risk
September 2020 by Matthew Bajkowski
investors who receive alerts from brokers on their investments are induced to take higher risk, according to a study by the Center for Tax and Accounting Research.

Firms With High Passive Ownership Are More Likely to Make Suspect Repurchases
September 2020 by AAII Staff
Companies with a lot of passive fund ownership are more likely to repurchase shares in order to boost their short-term stock price, subsequently harming performance over the long haul.

How Retirement Affects the Health of Manual Labor Workers
September 2020 by Anine Sus
People whose jobs require more manual labor develop health deficits faster both before and after retirement than those whose jobs do not require manual labor.

Making Fee and Performance Information Visible Changes How 401(k)s Are Invested
September 2020 by AAII Staff
Participants in 401(k) plans become more attentive to expense ratios and their portfolio allocations after fee and performance statements were provided directly to them.

Coronavirus Led to Dividend Cuts Among Highly Leveraged and Low Profitability Companies
August 2020 by AAII Staff
The sharp and sudden shock to economic prospects and financial markets caused by the coronavirus pandemic led certain companies to change their existing dividend policies.

How Financial Literacy Affects Decision-Making
August 2020 by Anine Sus
A study found that discovered that investors with a high level of financial literacy tend to take too many risks, overborrow, and hold naive financial attitudes.

Supreme Court Sets Limits on SEC’s Ability to Seek Ill-Gotten Gains Relief
August 2020 by Matthew Bajkowski
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8–1 that the SEC may continue to lawfully obtain disgorgement awards as “equitable relief” for fraudulent activities, though the award must be limited to wrongdoers’ net profits.

Wealthier Investors Are Better at Processing News Into Trading Decisions
August 2020 by AAII Staff
A study found that individual investors’ performance differs widely based on their wealth and demographics.

How Investing Ability Changes With Age
July 2020 by AAII Staff
Emerging research on cognitive aging as well as many financial studies have found declines in financial capability and concurrent lower investment performance among older individuals.

How Managerial Tone Affects Forecasts
July 2020 by Anine Sus
A study found that analysts, investors and the market underreact to negative changes in managerial tone.

Most Still Retiring at 65 Despite Higher Social Security Full Retirement Age
July 2020 by AAII Staff
Increasing Social Security’s full retirement age (FRA) does not cause a lockstep change in retirement timing.

Supreme Court: Pension Participants Lack Standing to Sue
July 2020 by Matthew Bajkowski
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5–4 in favor of dismissing a lawsuit against fiduciaries of a defined-benefit retirement plan.

Back to Black: How Music Affects Investor Sentiment
June 2020 by Anine Sus
The level of happiness in music listened to by individual investors affects their market sentiment. The study’s authors used Thomson Reuters Tick History (TRTH) from Refinitiv for their market data and streaming service Spotify for music data. They looked at the top 200 songs in the U.S. played on Spotify over the period of 2017 to 2019. This research follows other studies that have tried to analyze investors’ mood swings based on the weather, the outcome of major sports events and air disasters. Music was chosen as a correlated factor because “music can give voice to emotions that cannot be expressed in words and would not be captured by a word-based sentiment measure.”

Debt Leads to Delayed Retirement
June 2020 by AAII Staff
Older households approaching retirement are becoming increasingly more indebted and leveraged, which results in an inability to cover their debt with financial assets.

How ETFs Change Their Fund Families
June 2020 by Matthew Bajkowski
Mutual funds of companies that also offer exchange-traded funds (ETFs) perform worse than before those ETF products were launched.

Stock Performance Is Affected by a Firm’s Social Responsibility Rating
June 2020 by AAII Staff
One argument for favoring socially responsible investments is that they allow investors to do well while doing good. Does this argument hold up?

An Evaluation of Value Investing
May 2020 by Matthew Bajkowski
Investors should not give up on value investing yet, according to a study of value-based strategies’ underperformance over the last decade in comparison to the history and theory supporting them.

Individual Investors Trade as Contrarians
May 2020 by AAII Staff
Individual investors tend to trade as contrarians after large earnings surprises. Such contrarian trading contributes to sluggish price adjustment and to momentum.

Retirement Age CEOs Help Distressed Companies
May 2020 by Anine Sus
A study found that riskier companies that hire retirement-age CEOs are more likely to increase their performance when those CEOs are hired in distressed times.

Robos Up Investors' Holdings in Bonds and Index Funds
May 2020 by AAII Staff
Switching to a robo-adviser tends to result in a reduction of portfolio holdings in money market funds, individual stocks and U.S. and international active mutual funds in favor of bond holdings and low-cost index mutual funds.

AAII Members Found to Have Better Allocation Skills
April 2020 by Matthew Bajkowski
AAII members as individual investors tend to slightly increase and decrease the stock allocation of their portfolios in reaction to the performance of the market, according to a third-party study of responses to AAII’s monthly Asset Allocation survey.

Ex-Spouse’s Retirement Funds May Not Receive Bankruptcy Protection
April 2020 by AAII Staff
While the IRS allows distributions from a former spouse’s retirement account to be rolled over into a traditional IRA, two conditions apply.

MetLife Compares Employers' and Employees' Opinions on Retirement
April 2020 by Anine Sus
Attitudes toward retiring and benefits in retirement differ depending on whether you are an employer or an employee, according to two surveys.

Proprietary Broker Strategies Underperform
April 2020 by AAII Staff
A study looked at the allocation ability of fund investors, as well as the differences in allocation ability between brokers encouraged to suggest their firm’s products (proprietary) and independent brokers (non-proprietary).

An Alternative Measure of Value
March 2020 by AAII Staff
A researcher suggests that a ratio of cash-based operating profitability to price is a better judge of whether a stock is undervalued or overvalued than traditional indicators.

How Future Retirees Overestimate Their Benefits
March 2020 by Anine Sus
A study looked at how future retirees overestimate the benefits they will receive in retirement.

Outperforming Funds Stop Outperforming
March 2020 by Matthew Bajkowski
The results of a seminal study on the persistence of fund outperformance have been disputed by a follow-up study using more recent data.

Spending in Retirement Falls More for Parents Than for Non-Parents
March 2020 by AAII Staff
While much research has been conducted about retirement preparation, little has focused on how being a parent influences retirement preparedness. An American Enterprise Institute (AEI) study concluded that retirement planning should take into account a person’s/couple’s parental status.

Four Ways of Limiting Risks to Retirement Income
February 2020 by AAII Staff
An ill-timed occurrence of negative returns can damage the odds of a portfolio providing enough income for the remainder of a person’s life.

How IRAs Contribute to Retirement Savings in the U.S.
February 2020 by Anine Sus
Forty-four percent of retirees reported using traditional IRA withdrawals to pay for living expenses. In addition, 40% of retirees chose to reinvest or save some of the funds from traditional IRA withdrawals in another account.

Mintage or Vintage: Coining Alternative Assets
February 2020 by Matthew Bajkowski
Collectable coins may offer benefits to a diversified portfolio as an alternative asset, according to a study,

Retirement Delayed Despite Participation in 401(k) and 403(b) Plans
February 2020 by AAII Staff
The workforce participation rate for those 65 years and older is higher than 20% for the first time in 50 years.

Factoring in Small-Cap and Value Stocks
January 2020 by Matthew Bajkowski
Long-term investors can easily enhance their portfolio returns by tilting their equity allocation toward investment factors that have produced reliable risk premiums.

Insider Trading Information Helps Hedge Funds Outperform
January 2020 by AAII Staff
Hedge funds gain a performance advantage by being selective about which insider trades they mimic. In contrast, mutual funds, pension funds and other institutional investors tend to trade in the opposite direction of insiders.

Retained Earnings Is More Predictive Than Book Value
January 2020 by AAII Staff
Researchers argue the book-to-market ratio should be replaced by a related ratio, retained earnings-to-market. The book-to-market (B/M) ratio, the inverse of the price-to-book (P/B) ratio, has long been used by value investors to assess the valuation of a company.

The Financial Advice Gap
January 2020 by Anine Sus
Many individual investors currently going without financial advice might realize greater wealth if they took advantage of financial advice.

A Dozen Tax Scams to Avoid
December 2019 by Anine Sus
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released 12 scams that commonly target taxpayers during tax season and throughout the year.

An Adviser’s Profile Is as Important as the Investor’s
December 2019 by Matthew Bajkowski
The characteristics of a financial adviser have a large impact on the portfolio recommendations they give.

Bond Fund Classifications May Underrepresent True Risk
December 2019 by AAII Staff
Many bond mutual funds may be riskier than they seem due to misclassifications of portfolio holdings by fund companies.

Workers’ Actual Retirement Savings Don’t Match Potential
December 2019 by AAII Staff
Four aspects of the U.S. retirement system make it difficult for employees to achieve their potential retirement plan accumulation by the time they are ready to retire.

Distinction Among Mutual Funds
November 2019 by Matthew Bajkowski

Actively managed equity mutual funds with a low degree of portfolio overlap hold higher-returning stocks. This is true even when grouping funds based on investment style and stock category.

Financial Benefits From Mergers Are Often Overstated
November 2019 by AAII Staff
An analysis by S&P Global Ratings found that companies overestimate the level of growth in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization and reduction in debt following a merger or leveraged buyout.

How Investors Should Choose Index Mutual Funds and ETFs
November 2019 by Anine Sus

Using the lowest expense ratios as a method for choosing between an index mutual fund and an exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a helpful rule of thumb, but it does not always lead to higher returns for individual investors.

Older Investors Less Likely to Understand Sophisticated Securities
November 2019 by AAII Staff

Wealthier households age 80 and older are more than 80% less likely than investors age 60–64 of moderate income to have better financial literacy scores and 82% less likely than younger investors of moderate income to show understanding of basic survey questions.

How to Change Incorrect or Missing Beneficiary Designations
October 2019 by Anine Sus
There are seven ways survivors can change incorrect or missing individual retirement account (IRA) beneficiary designations after someone has died, according to Morningstar.

Institutional Investor Horizons Set the Course for Corporations
October 2019 by Matthew Bajkowski

Whether institutional investors have a long-term or short-term outlook influences the management principles of the corporations in which they are invested, according to a study.

The Two Indicators of Post-Retirement Health
October 2019 by AAII Staff
One of the ongoing debates in the academic literature has been whether retiring early has a positive or negative impact on retiree’s health.

Volatile Stocks Don’t Necessarily Have High Returns
October 2019 by AAII Staff
Stocks that are very risky to invest in do not always have high returns as a trade-off due to a studied phenomenon termed the “volatility effect.”

Analyst Trading Ideas Have Greater Impact Than Buy/Sell Recommendations
September 2019 by AAII Staff
Trading ideas from analysts have a three times greater impact on stock prices during the day of the announcement than either target price or earnings forecast revisions.

Retirees Gain by Using Taxable Assets to Purchase Annuities
September 2019 by Anine Sus
A study determined that in general it may be more beneficial for retirees to purchase annuities using their taxable savings instead of funds from a traditional iRa or Roth plan.

Similarities Between Company Names and Tickers Lead to Mistaken Trades
September 2019 by AAII Staff
Making a wrong trade due to confusion about the name and/or ticker of a company is more common than one may think.

Women Are More Risk Averse When Their Adviser Is Male
September 2019 by Matthew Bajkowski
Gender differences in investing are more complicated than previously assumed.

Activist Interventions Fail to Boost Long-Term Returns for Shareholders
August 2019 by AAII Staff
A research review found no lasting improvement in the operating performance of companies targeted by hedge fund intervention.

Employers Make One-Third of Contributions to Large 401(k) Plans
August 2019 by AAII Staff

Employer contributions to all large 401(k) plans represented 32% of contributions in 2016, roughly $107 billion, while employee contributions in plans with employer contributions totaled $219 billion.

Making Target Date Funds the Default Option in Retirement Plans Impacts Investor Behavior
August 2019 by AAII Staff
Researchers looking at recent changes to retirement plans found that the number of funds held and the equity exposure changed for participants when target date funds became the default option.

Proxy Votes That Challenge Executive Pay Are Few
August 2019 by Anine Sus
A study looking at how shareholder votes on manager compensation have fared since Say on Pay was instituted show a very low failure rate.

Combating Medicare Advantage Plan Overpayments
July 2019 by Anine Sus
A study looking at the difference in spending between those who switch to Medicare Advantage plans and those who stay in traditional Medicare plans found that those who switched spent less than those who did not.

Earnings Surprise Studies Show Historical Outperformance
July 2019 by AAII Staff
A survey of research on the anomaly called post-earnings announcement drift (PEAD) shows that strategies based on earnings surprises have provided abnormally high returns.

Liquidity and Size Determine Dividend Policy
July 2019 by AAII Staff
A firm’s size and liquidity were seen as the only characteristics that impact dividend policy, according to a study.

Shareholders Vote More When Their Ownership Stake Is Higher
July 2019 by AAII Staff
The higher their ownership stake is in a firm, the more likely it is that shareholders will participate in proxy votes.

Does Adjusting Your Retirement Plan Contributions Give You Better Results?
June 2019 by AAII Staff

Would using a dynamic policy of “managing to target” help investors better reach their desired terminal value at retirement than sticking to a predetermined constant contribution?

Retirement Plan Participants Feel the Pain of Market Volatility
June 2019 by Anine Sus
As retirement plan balances decreased due to market declines at the end of 2018, plan enrollees shifted their allocations from stock to cash, according to a T. Rowe Price summary.

Sustained Engagement Key to Sharpness in Later Life
June 2019 by AAII Staff
Being intellectually engaged has been associated with a higher level of cognitive performance in older adults.

Work History Affects Likelihood of Working After Retirement
June 2019 by AAII Staff
The more time an individual spends working part time or is self-employed, the more likely it is that they will work after retirement.

Individual Investors Less Willing to Take on Risk Than Professionals
May 2019 by AAII Staff
Individual investors tend to follow market trends to determine their portfolio allocation, while institutional investors are more likely to have a highly contrarian attitude. Financial advisers often land somewhere in the middle.

Millennials More Optimistic About Retirement Than Older Generations
May 2019 by Anine Sus
A survey by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies looked at how three generations differ in their attitudes toward retirement.

Spouses in Two-Income, One-Saver Households Aren’t Saving Enough for Retirement
May 2019 by AAII Staff

When only one person in a dual-earner household is putting away money for retirement, the couple’s saving rate is too low to sustain two retirees, according to a recent study.

Trailing Stop-Losses Effective at Curtailing Downside Risk
May 2019 by AAII Staff

A recent study found that trailing stop-loss orders result in higher risk-adjusted returns and also perform particularly well at reducing downside risk.

Correlation Found Between Risk of Alzheimer’s and Asset Allocation
April 2019 by AAII Staff
The higher the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, the higher the propensity to invest in lower-risk or higher-liquid assets, according to a recent study.

Investors and Advisers Disagree on Most Valuable Attributes
April 2019 by AAII Staff
Investors and financial advisers don’t see eye to eye when it comes to what investors value in their advisers and what advisers believe is important to investors, according to a recent survey.

Retirees' Happiness Correlates With Participation in Active Versus Passive Activities
April 2019 by Anine Sus
A study looking at levels of happiness among retirees when engaged in various activities found that retirees are happier when they engage in active activities over passive activities.

State Law May Protect Inherited IRA Assets From Creditors
April 2019 by AAII Staff
Whether an inherited IRA is protected from creditors may depend on the state it is held in: A U.S. bankruptcy court ruled that Idaho state law is broad enough to exempt such accounts from being seized for the purpose of paying debts.

Investors Allocate More Into Funds According to the ABCs
March 2019 by AAII Staff
Investors as well as financial professionals are more likely to invest in fund names that appear higher in the alphabet or higher in retirement plan menus.

Knowledge of Social Security Spousal Benefits Is Low
March 2019 by AAII Staff
The lack of knowledge about Social Security spousal and survivor benefits can put even otherwise financially literate individuals at risk for making suboptimal claiming decisions.

Mobile Trading Apps Lead to More Frequent Transactions
March 2019 by AAII Staff
Active investors taking advantage of the rise of technology portability through the use of smartphones have changed their trading behavior, according to a recent study.

Not Giving Sufficient Consideration to Sell Decisions Is Costly
March 2019 by Anine Sus
Institutional investors tend to pay more attention to which stocks they are buying than the stocks they are choosing to sell, to the detriment of their portfolios’ returns.

‘Value’ Mutual Funds Aren’t Composed of ‘Value’ Investments
February 2019 by AAII Staff
Mutual funds that claim to focus on investments having factors shown be associated with higher long-term returns are found to be doing the exact opposite.

Majority of Retirees Regret Not Saving More for Retirement
February 2019 by AAII Staff
Many of those who are currently in retirement do not believe they have a large enough nest egg and are aware that they should have saved more on a regular basis.

Mutual Funds Underperform and Disappear at a High Rate
February 2019 by AAII Staff
Fees are a big hurdle for fund managers to overcome in terms of performance. Adding to the challenge of selecting good actively managed mutual funds is the high rate at which mutual funds cease to exist.

Older Workers Investing More in IRAs
February 2019 by AAII Staff
Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) have grown in popularity among U.S. households and older, higher income Americans.

Active Traders, Not Novices, Fall for Scams
January 2019 by AAII Staff
Participants in pump-and-dump schemes tend to be middle-aged, affluent and male. They also have prior trading experience, particularly with penny stocks, and exhibit a high tolerance for risk.

Bucket Strategies Underperform Static Allocation Strategies
January 2019 by AAII Staff
Bucket strategies have grown in popularity due to their simplicity, but little academic research has been conducted on them.

Considerations for Handling Wealth Windfalls
January 2019 by AAII Staff
A sudden, but significant increase in wealth may be viewed as a welcome surprise, but it is not without challenges. It creates new responsibilities and requires well-thought-out choices to be made.

Option Prices Adjust to Reflect Extreme Weather Events
January 2019 by AAII Staff
Stock options of companies with operations in the path of a hurricane reflect higher levels of uncertainty before the storm hits and as the storm makes landfall. It reflects a level of efficiency in how stock and their underlying options are priced.

Consistent 401(k) Participants Have Larger Savings
December 2018 by
About one-quarter of the 27.1 million workers participating in 401(k) plans have consistently done so for six or more years.

Delaying Retirement Has a Small Impact on Men’s Longevity
December 2018 by
Delaying retirement by working longer has some positive impact on life-span and health, but the effect varies by gender.

Savings Medicare Beneficiaries May Need for Health Care
December 2018 by
The Employee Benefit Research Institute conducted an updated analysis of health expenses in retirement. Estimates are based on costs assumed and level of care required.

The SEC Wants to Hear From Individual Investors
December 2018 by
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seeking more input from individual investors about their policy initiatives.

Investment Knowledge and Age Associated With ETF Ownership
November 2018 by
Owners of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tend to have higher levels of financial knowledge than do investors who do not own ETFs. ETF holders also tend to be younger in age.

Multiple Share Class Mutual Funds Have Unfavorable Traits
November 2018 by
Multiple share (MS) class mutual funds are likelier to have lower board quality ratings, have managers whose wealth and compensation is less dependent on fund performance and charge higher fees than their single-share class funds.

Order of Transactions Influences Investors’ Repurchasing Decisions
November 2018 by
Individual investors’ tendency to repurchase a previously owned stock is influenced significantly by the last stock they sold. Repurchases are most likely to occur if the stock being purchased was the last one sold and was sold at a profit.

Time in the Market Influences Millennials’ Investing Attitudes
November 2018 by
Millennial investors have often been described as being overly conservative with their portfolio allocations. An analysis by Vanguard finds the reality is more nuanced than the common perception would suggest.

Diverging Opinions on Active Management
October 2018 by
A review of the academic research on active management found that conventional wisdom is too negative on the value created by fund manager decisions.

Five-Cent Spread Program on Small-Cap Stocks Ends
October 2018 by
The SEC terminated its small-cap stock pilot program mandating minimum quotations and trading increments for stocks of certain smaller companies.

Matching Contributions May Be Used for Student Loans
October 2018 by
The IRS approved one company's request to amend its 401(k) program to offer a student loan benefit program.

Mutual Funds Show Bias Toward Previous Winners
October 2018 by
Whether a stock was sold for a gain or a loss has a significant impact on an active mutual fund manager’s decision to repurchase the stock.

“Meaningful Benchmark” Required to Prove Breach of 401(k) Fiduciary Duties
September 2018 by
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled that participants in a 401(k) cannot simply point to the existence of lower-price funds as proof that their employer and plan sponsor breached their fiduciary duties.

Recent Performance Influences Fund Choices
September 2018 by
A mutual fund’s recent returns and its relative performance significantly influence whether investors choose to buy or hold onto the fund. The magnitude of these returns and whether the fund is already owned also plays a role.

Seven Steps to Protect Against Cognitive Aging
September 2018 by
One of the first signs of cognitive aging is problems managing one’s own finances. To help adults protect themselves, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia published seven actions to take.

The Role of Leverage and Quality in Dividend Changes
September 2018 by
Companies with low-to-moderate levels of leverage can signal positive information by raising their dividend. When leverage becomes too high, a higher-quality firm can convey positive information by doing the opposite: cutting its dividend.

Actions to Take During the Five Years Prior to Retirement
August 2018 by AAII Staff
Based on interviews with financial advisers, economists and retirees, The New York Times put together a list of tips to smooth the transition from a working career to retirement.

Protracted CEO Successions Linked to Higher Stock Returns
August 2018 by
Shares of companies without a named replacement for a departing chief executive officer tend to outperform, despite the uncertainty about who the new leader will be.

Sector Classification Change Could Alter Some ETFs
August 2018 by
A shift in sector and industry classifications will impact exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds that target telecom industries and sectors.

Student Loan Debt Reduces Retirement Savings
August 2018 by
According to a recent study, having a student loan reduces the amount college graduates set aside for retirement at age 30. Graduates with no debt at age 25 were much further ahead on saving for retirement.

Funds Can Switch to Paperless Delivery of Reports
July 2018 by
The SEC approved a new rule allowing for mutual fund, ETF and other investment fund shareholder reports to be delivered electronically.

Mutual Fund Companies Conduct Limited Corporate Governance Research
July 2018 by
Mutual fund companies are selective in which portfolio holdings they conduct corporate governance research on.

Retirement Planning Mistakes Investors Often Make
July 2018 by AAII Staff
Planning for the transition to and life in retirement is an area where many common mistakes are made.

Sleep Problems Adversely Affect Financial Decisions
July 2018 by
Those who incur sleep problems are more prone to display behavioral biases such as putting more emphasis on the present than on future payouts and misunderstanding probabilities.

Out-of-Pocket Health Care Spending for Retirees
June 2018 by AAII Staff
Out-of-pocket health care expenditures may be less than projections suggest for the majority of retirees. A small proportion of retirees, however, will incur substantial out-of-pocket expenses because of nursing home care.

Return Gap Larger for Actively Managed Fund Shareholders
June 2018 by
A Morningstar analysis found that investors in actively managed funds realized returns that were 2.48% less than returns realized by the very same mutual funds on an annualized basis.

Returns for Social Trading Platforms Are Negative
June 2018 by
Social trading platforms do not lead to higher returns for investors. Even when following just the most popular or widely followed strategies, investors lose money.

Robo-Advisory Platform Found to Have Some Benefits
June 2018 by
An analysis of trading activity at a broker that offered a robo-advisory tool showed that diversification improved and the tendency to sell winners instead of losers was reduced among those who used the service.

Burden of Proof Is on Taxpayer When Documentation Is Missing
May 2018 by
The Tax Court ruled in favor of a taxpayer who lacked documentation for, but was able to provide evidence supporting, his assertion about the timing and amount of an IRA contribution.

Cognitive Impairment Decreases Wealth
May 2018 by AAII Staff
Households incur a greater loss of wealth when the person in charge of making financial decisions incurs a decline in their cognitive abilities.

Financial Documents to Keep and Shred
May 2018 by
The IRS requires taxpayers to document most claimed sources of income, losses and deductions. This can create confusion over which financial documents need to be kept and which can be destroyed.

What Studies Say About How Oil Affects Stock Prices
May 2018 by
Researchers have been trying to determine whether or not oil prices are linked to stock returns. To sum up the findings, two Australian researchers analyzed more than 100 studies from highly ranked journals.

Future Retirees at Greater Risk of Hardship
April 2018 by
Due to changes in the retirement system, future retirees may have more difficulty than current retirees withstanding a financial shock, according to separate studies.

Overconfident CEOs Buy Back More Stock
April 2018 by
Companies with chief executive officers who exhibit signs of overconfidence are more likely to repurchase their own shares and tend to allocate more dollars to doing so.

Survey: 8% of Older Adults Are Victims of Financial Fraud
April 2018 by
A series of questions in the 2016 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) asked respondents over the age of 50 about financial victimization. (The median age was 68.) Eight percent reported to have fallen prey to at least one form of financial fraud within the past 12 months.

Workplace Retirement Plans Affect Savings Behavior
April 2018 by
A Pew Charitable Trusts survey looked at the difference in behavior between workers who participated in employer-sponsored retirement plans [e.g., 401(k) plans] and those who did not participate in such plans.

“Sell in May” Has Weakened as a Strategy
March 2018 by AAII Staff
The strategy of holding stocks between November and April and avoiding them between May and October was first discussed in an academic journal in 2002. Questions have arisen as to whether the attention given to the strategy has hurt its returns.

A Simple Way to Fund Retirement
March 2018 by
An analysis of 292 retirement income strategies led to the creation of the Spend Safely in Retirement Strategy, an approach for middle-income retirees that can implemented with any traditional IRA or 401(k).

Dividends Impact Consumption More Than Capital Gains Do
March 2018 by
Changes in dividends impact household consumption. Capital gains also have an impact, but a smaller one than dividends. The magnitude of the impact depends on household wealth, with consumption rising proportionately higher among comparatively less affluent households.

Trends in Individual Retirement Accounts
March 2018 by
The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) has been analyzing trends in individual retirement account (IRA) balances, contributions, withdrawals and asset allocations. Their database contains information on 27.9 million accounts.

Corporations With Female CEOs Have Greater Board Oversight
February 2018 by AAII Staff
Corporations run by female CEOs tend to have smaller boards of directors, which tend to have different characteristics than corporations with CEOs who are men.

Prioritizing HSA Contributions and 401(k) Contributions
February 2018 by AAII Staff
An employed person able to realize similar rates of return may come out ahead by first maximizing contributions to their health savings account before funding the retirement plan account.

Retirement Doesn't Negatively Impact Health
February 2018 by AAII Staff
Separate studies of Australian and Danish retirees looked at the impact that retirement has on health outcomes. Neither study found a negative impact.

Volume Surges Have a Fading Impact on Returns
February 2018 by AAII Staff
A study of Australian stocks found that stocks experiencing a positive volume shock—a spike in the number of shares traded—tend to outperform. However, the outperformance is short term.

52-Week Highs Perform Better Than Record Highs
January 2018 by
One alternative form of momentum investing is to buy stocks trading near their 52-week highs. Another form is to buy stocks trading near their historical (record) highs. The former strategy has performed better than the latter.

Executives Misconstrue Employees’ Investment Preferences
January 2018 by
An option for a default allocation exists in many workplace retirement plans. However, the decision as to what the default strategy should be is often made without a clear understanding of employee preferences.

For Mutual Funds, Competition Doesn’t Mean Lower Fees
January 2018 by
Competition is usually associated with lower prices. The exact opposite pattern is occurring within the mutual fund industry.

Proxy Adviser's Gender and Shareholder Meetings Guidelines
January 2018 by
Each year, Glass Lewis reviews internal corporate governance guidelines annually. The firm announced that it is making noteworthy revisions to its policies for 2018.

Corporations Do Not Optimize Share Repurchases
December 2017 by
Despite possessing insider information, corporate executives would realize higher returns on share repurchase programs if they simply followed a dollar-cost-averaging approach, according to a recent study.

Delaying SEC Filings Leads to Negative Returns
December 2017 by
Exchange-listed companies are generally required by the SEC to file annual reports within 75 days following the end of a calendar or fiscal year and quarterly reports in 40 days. Failure to do so can lead to a declining stock price.

The Effect of Dividend Changes on Expected Cash Flows
December 2017 by
A University of Chicago working paper challenged the viewpoint that positive revisions are often viewed as conveying optimism on the part of management about future earnings and cash flows, while negative revisions are perceived as conveying pessimism.

Useful End-of-Life Documents
December 2017 by
A will is a well-known and important tool in estate planning, but here are other documents you should consider having to better ensure that your late-in-life and end-of-life wishes are carried out.

Fund Manager Experience Does Not Predict Outperformance
November 2017 by
Though mutual fund managers who have been the sole manager of their funds have as a group outperformed the benchmarks, a closer look finds both wide disparities in relative returns and the influence of other factors.

Knowledge and Investing Styles Vary
November 2017 by
Describing their investment approach, a majority of surveyed investors with $10,000 or more invested in stocks, bonds or mutual funds said they seek out investment advice and tend to follow it, nearly a quarter rarely look at their investments, and just 10% use a hands-on approach and express confidence in their abilities.

The Impact of Out-of-Pocket Medical Spending on Retiree’s Income
November 2017 by
Though most retirees over age 65 are enrolled in Medicare, out-of-pocket costs can still be significant.

Why Gender Tolerances Toward Risk May Differ
November 2017 by AAII Staff
Several studies have found gender differences in risk tolerance: Men, on average, exhibit more tolerance for risk in their financial decisions than women do. However, past studies have not determined whether the difference is specifically due to gender or if it is due to other factors.

Key Questions About When to Retire
October 2017 by
Though some people are forced into retirement, the choice for many others is made at their own discretion. These questions can help.

Personality Traits Influence Investing Style Preferences
October 2017 by
Researchers found a link between common personality traits and the types of stocks held in individual investors’ portfolios.

Raising Children Increases Risk of a Retirement Shortfall
October 2017 by
An analysis found that each child increases by two percentage points the share of households with parents in their 50s who are at risk of not being able to fund retirement.

Retirees’ Timing Rationale for Claiming Social Security Benefits
October 2017 by
A survey conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research sought to identify the reasons people claim Social Security benefits when they do.

Economic and Market Conditions Influence Stock Splits
September 2017 by
On average, stock splits are more likely to be announced during bull markets than bear markets. More splits also occur during expansionary periods than during recessionary periods.

Equity Allocations in 401(k) Plans Exceed Pre-Financial Crisis Levels
September 2017 by
Ninety-one percent of workers had exposure to equities, compared to 87% in 2007. Furthermore, equities accounted for more than 80% of portfolio allocations for 48% of plan participants.

The Factors Driving Dividend Policy
September 2017 by
An analysis of global dividend policies attributed the rationale for companies to pay and raise their dividends to many factors, including communicating information, so-called “agency costs,” tax policy and a company’s maturation.

When Is the Best Time to Take Your RMDs?
September 2017 by Jenna Brashear
To decide when to take your required minimum distribution (RMD), you’ll need to understand the pros and cons of making RMD withdrawals earlier or later in the year.

Analyst Target Prices Influence Merger Completion Rates
August 2017 by
Mergers are more likely to be completed when the acquisition price is above analysts’ target prices.

Long-Term Benefits of HSAs Not Being Taken Advantage Of
August 2017 by
Despite the tax advantages of health savings accounts, most people do not treat their HSAs as a tax-preferred investment account.

Low Cognitive Skills Alter Outlook for the Market
August 2017 by
Rather than thinking about stock market returns as occurring mostly within a range of probable outcomes, those with low cognitive skills view stock market returns as being uncertain.

Tweeting Associated With a Slight Return Boost
August 2017 by
Many publicly traded corporations are using Twitter to convey business and financial data due to its lack of cost and its speed of dissemination.

A Two-Prong Approach to Funding Retirement
July 2017 by
One way to handle the uncertainty of longevity is to divide retirement in two phases. The first phase would last approximately 20 years, from age 65 to 85. The second phase would last from age 85 until the death.

Having Access to Cash Increases Life Satisfaction
July 2017 by
While cash is a drag on investment returns, especially in a low interest rate environment, there may be a reason to allocate as much as you think is necessary: happiness.

The Temptation to Trade Reduces Returns
July 2017 by
Participants in a simulated market environment displayed behavior indicative of market timing, even when there was an incentive not to do so.

Using Financial Data to Detect Dementia
July 2017 by
One of the earliest signs of cognitive impairment, including dementia, is the inability to manage personal finances.

Improving on the Magic Formula
June 2017 by
A new study claims to improve on Joel Greenblatt’s Magic Formula by using a different measure of profitability.

IRAs Primarily Funded by 401(k) Rollovers and Higher Income Households
June 2017 by
Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) were originally created in 1974 to provide those without workplace retirement plans a tax-deferred method of saving for retirement, but their use has morphed since then.

Long-Term Care Insurance: Less Benefit for the Premium
June 2017 by
Purchasers of long-term care insurance have faced a combination of rising premiums and changes in both the types and dollar value of the benefits offered. There are positives and negatives to this.

Workers Lack Information When Making Lump-Sum Decisions
June 2017 by
A MetLife study found workers are not being presented with enough useful information when offered the chance to take either a lump sum or an annuity at retirement.

Downside Volatility Determines Trend-Following Profits
May 2017 by AAII Staff
The success of trend-following strategies is more dependent on the volatility of the underlying asset following a buy or sell signal than the rules used for determining when signals are issued.

Most Mutual Funds Do Not Outperform
May 2017 by
The difficulty of selecting an actively managed mutual fund that will outperform its benchmark in the future was highlighted in reports from S&P Dow Jones Indices.

The Most Active Investors Trade Far More Than the Rest of Investors
May 2017 by
Clients of a British broker whose trading activity ranked in the top 10% initiated an average of 69 trades per year. In contrast, the remaining 80% of investors traded an average of just six times per year.

Workers Are Less Confident About Retirement Than Retirees Are
May 2017 by
One reason for the lack of confidence among workers about retirement is a perceived lack of knowledge about how to manage retirement savings. A bigger factor is savings, or a lack thereof. Retirees are far more optimistic.

A Six-Bucket Strategy for Funding Retirement
April 2017 by
TIAA suggests that a mental accounting bucket strategy can help people better prepare for retirement, and it can also make spending decisions easier for retirees.

Baby Boomers Use 401(k) Plans More Than Millennials
April 2017 by
Participation in defined-contribution retirement plans varies by generation. Some of this difference is due to eligibility instead of affordability.

Many Households Misestimate Their Retirement Preparedness
April 2017 by
Slightly more than half of working-age U.S. households are at risk of being unable to maintain their standard of living in retirement. Many of these households recognize the possibility of a shortfall, but a large percentage do not.

Sentiment Is Increasing Foreign Market Correlations
April 2017 by
Correlations between international financial markets have been increasing over time, due to non-fundamental factors. A key characteristic of these factors is investor sentiment.

Better Fortune Magazine Rankings Are Good for CEOs
March 2017 by
Chief executive officers receive higher compensation, are less likely to be fired and are more likely to engage in more and bigger acquisitions after their company’s ranking goes up in Fortune.

Longer-Term Inflation Forecasts Are Less Accurate
March 2017 by AAII Staff
The accuracy of inflation forecasts decreases the further out in the future economists make them for.

Many Workers Don’t Stick With Automatic Savings Rate Increases
March 2017 by
Researchers at the Rand Corporation looked at 206 auto-enrollment retirement plans to see whether automatically increasing savings rates results in workers sticking with the default rate or following a more active approach.

Options for Handling Inherited IRAs
March 2017 by
Individual retirement accounts passed on to beneficiaries following the death of the account holder have different rules than traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs.

Cognitive Aging Creates Financial Obstacles
February 2017 by
The impact that cognitive aging has on those ages 70 to 90 depends on both their financial skill and the type of cognitive impact.

Implementing an Age-Banded Approach to Retirement Withdrawals
February 2017 by
Popular withdrawal strategies fail to consider that actual spending patterns evolve throughout retirement.

Piotroski F-Score Works Well With More Than Low-Value Stocks
February 2017 by
Joseph Piotroski’s F-Score is a methodology for identifying undervalued stock. Though designed to be applied to low price-to-book stocks, his F-Score methodology works with a wide variety of stocks.

Strategies for Unneeded RMDs
February 2017 by AAII Staff
Required minimum distributions from retirement plans can create a quandary for those who do not need the money. Suggestions on what retirees in this situation can do with the unwanted cash.

Improper Use of ETFs Is Lowering Returns
January 2017 by
Despite the advantages that exchange-traded funds offer, individual investors who use them are not realizing better returns, primarily due to timing decisions.

IPO Scam Uses Fake SEC Documents
January 2017 by
Fraudsters are attempting to sell initial public offering shares of well-known companies using forms that appear to have come from the SEC or another legitimate source.

Lottery Stocks’ Unique Returns Around Earnings Announcements
January 2017 by
Stocks with high expected returns, called lottery stocks, tend to outperform in the days ahead of an earnings announcement and underperform in the days following the announcement.

Six Habits Successful Investors Share
January 2017 by
Fidelity has observed that practicing these habits over the years is common among successful investors.

Declining Cognitive Skills Associated With Overconfidence
December 2016 by AAII Staff
A analysis of data collected in a study on cognitive abilities in older adults found a positive association of unjustified confidence with risky investments in those with declining cognitive skills.

Five Retirement Challenges Facing Women
December 2016 by
TIAA says that women face five challenges when it comes to ensuring they will have enough income to provide for a safe retirement.

Pollution Hurts Stock Returns
December 2016 by
A study in New York City found that as pollution levels rise, investors become more risk-averse, which leads to worse returns for stock prices.

Seven Steps That Couples in Their 50s Should Take
December 2016 by
To be better prepared for retirement, Money Magazine suggests seven smart moves for partners in their fifth decade of life.

Reducing Spending Key to Making a Retirement Portfolio Last
November 2016 by
A flexible spending and withdrawal strategy is better than a rigid one, concludes a Vanguard study.

SEC Adopts New Mutual Fund and ETF Rules
November 2016 by
New rules for funds aim to modernize information reported by funds, require liquidity risk management programs, and permit swing pricing,

Social Security Administration Accused of Giving Incomplete Information
November 2016 by
An analysis conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Agency (GAO) found that Social Security applicants were given incomplete, not enough and, in a few instances, incorrect information.

Suggestions for Managing the Risk of Cognitive Decline
November 2016 by AAII Staff
Cognitive impairment has a direct, negative impact on a person’s and couple’s finances, yet many do not want to talk about it.

“Trusting Your Gut” Not Proven to Increase Returns
October 2016 by
A study of traders suggests gut feelings can provide valuable physiological signals. However, the research could not establish causation.

IRS Allows Waivers on 60-Day Rollover Deadline
October 2016 by
The tax code allows the 60-day rollover requirement to be waived when “the failure to waive such requirement would be against equity or good conscience.” A list of the reasons the IRS would consider a waiver claim acceptable.

Tax Uncertainty and Traditional Versus Roth IRAs
October 2016 by
The decision to allocate between a pretax retirement savings vehicle (e.g., a traditional IRA) and an aftertax retirement savings vehicle (e.g., Roth IRA) depends on both current and expected future wealth.

You Can Judge a Fund by Its Volatility
October 2016 by
Actively managed funds with high levels of volatility are likely to stay highly volatile and those with low volatility are likely to continue to experience low volatility.

10 Attributes Great Investors Share
September 2016 by
Michael Mauboussin, head of global financial strategies at Credit Suisse, compiled a list of the top 10 attributes he believes the great fundamental investors share.

Guidance for Analyzing an Early Retirement Offer
September 2016 by
Though an early retirement offer may may seem tempting, there several factors to keep in mind before deciding whether or not to take it.

Older Adults Place Less Value on Saving
September 2016 by
Each year a person ages, his or her discount rate—the implied internal rate of return (IRR) required for postponing having the money today—increases by approximately two percentage points.

Retiree Portfolios and Warren Buffett’s Allocation Instructions
September 2016 by
A test of Warren Buffett’s instructions for allocating the cash bequeathed to his wife (10% in short-term government bonds and 90% in a S&P 500 index fund) showed that it has historically worked well for retirees who were willing to cope with higher levels of volatility.

A Simple Formula for Calculating “Safe” Retirement Spending
August 2016 by
Evan Inglis, a senior vice president for Nuveen Asset Management, gives a simple “feel free” strategy that should provide enough money for expenses but also allow a retiree’s portfolio to grow.

Data Mixed on Whether Volatility Is Rising
August 2016 by
An analysis of historical price movement among exchange-listed stocks found that the answer to the question of whether stocks have become more volatile will vary if volatility is considered on a daily basis or a monthly basis.

Study Finds Technical Analysts’ Recommendations Don’t Outperform
August 2016 by
A study of Dutch-listed firms and the major Dutch indexes found that technical analysis-based buy and sell recommendations were “largely in line with simple technical trading rules.”

What Personal Traits Do Savers Share?
August 2016 by
Researchers studied a longstanding survey of Dutch households that contained demographics plus wealth and savings data to find the factors that would explain why some people have a greater propensity to save than others.

Index Funds Influence Activist Investors
July 2016 by
The presence of large passive shareholders, meaning sponsors of index funds, influences not only the actions of activist shareholders, but also what changes they are successful in pushing for.

Not All Flights to Quality Are the Same
July 2016 by
A flight to quality is a change in market dynamic where there is a shift in allocation from risky assets to safer assets. A new study examined the factors that affect flight-to-quality episodes.

Suggestions for Not Outliving Your Savings
July 2016 by
Money Magazine published a list of five ways retirees and those who are still working can reduce the odds of outliving their savings.

Which Is Better: 4% Withdrawals or Annuities?
July 2016 by
TIAA Institute compared systematic withdrawals against annuitizing in retirement.

Growth in Corporate Cash Balances Isn’t Negative
June 2016 by
The cumulative cash balance of non-financial companies in the S&P 500 index totaled an estimated $2.1 billion as of October 31, 2015. There is not a single reason for the large cash balances; rather, there are many different reasons, some of which contradict commonly held beliefs.

It Can Make Sense to Have Several IRAs
June 2016 by
While it is a good rule of thumb to keep the investing process relatively simple, in certain cases adding some complexity can actually work to an investor’s advantage. Individual retirement accounts are one such example.

The Spending Patterns of Older Adults
June 2016 by
Spending patterns do not significantly change for many categories until person reaches age 75. After 75, spending drops significantly.

Work Longer to Live Longer
June 2016 by
Researchers who looked at the impact that retirement age had on longevity found that early retirement may be a risk factor for mortality.

A Telephone Call Is Not Enough to Change a Beneficiary Designation
May 2016 by AAII Staff
Merely calling to request a change in the beneficiary may not be enough to effectuate it. Rather, there must be compelling evidence proving a change was desired.

Delaying Planned Retirement Leads to Healthy Behaviors
May 2016 by
An analysis of middle-aged Italian men showed that even a one-year postponement of the planned retirement age increases the likelihood of exercising regularly as well as refraining from smoking and drinking regularly.

Short Selling Found to Lead to Higher Returns
May 2016 by
Three researchers found that short interest (the percentage of shares sold short) is a better indicator of future returns than than many other financial metrics.

The First Five Things to Do at Retirement
May 2016 by
The American Grandparents Association asked 15 certified financial planners (CFPs) what five things should be done when a person retires.

Advisers With Records of Misconduct Often Rehired
April 2016 by
Close to half (44%) of advisers who left their job following a misconduct disclosure were able to find employment within the same year. And financial advisers who engaged in misconduct were five times as likely to do so again as the average adviser.

Eight Ways Women Can Take Charge of Their Retirement
April 2016 by
A survey conducted by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies found women tend to lag behind men in terms of saving and planning for retirement and offered eight suggestions for how women can take charge of their retirement plans.

New Proposed Reporting Rules for Estates
April 2016 by
The Internal Revenue Service issued proposed and temporary rules for the reporting of estate assets that require consistency between the recipient’s basis in certain property acquired from the decedent and the value determined for federal estate tax purposes.

The Independence of the Board Chairman Affects CEO Pay
April 2016 by
A strong link exists between CEO pay and how independent the chair of the board is: Compensation for the chief executive officer is highest when an “insider” holds the board chairmanship.

Be Wary of Offers for High-Yield CDs
March 2016 by
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued a warning about advertisements promoting high-yielding certificates of deposit (CDs).

Five Strategies for Withdrawing From Retirement Savings
March 2016 by
The 4% rule isn't the only approach to withdrawing retirement income. Mixing and matching different approaches may help to match the withdrawal strategy with each income need.

Online Retirement Calculators Called ‘Misleading’ by Researchers
March 2016 by
In a study of 36 online retirement planning tools, researchers found that just 11 succeeded in giving the correct analysis of whether a hypothetical couple could meet their retirement goals.

The Financial Literacy Quiz That Many Retirees Flunked
March 2016 by
In a survey of retirees, most flunked a quiz on retirement income, and nearly one of out of every four respondents gave the wrong answer on at least 70% of all questions.

Contrarian Hedge Funds Outperform Momentum Mutual Funds
February 2016 by
Hedge funds following contrarian strategies tend to realize higher returns than hedge funds and mutual funds that follow momentum strategies.

No Long-Term Link Between Past and Future Fund Performance
February 2016 by
no-long-term-link-between-past-and-future-fund-performance

Simplifying Investment Choices Helps Focus Decisions
February 2016 by
An analysis of a large U.S. nonprofit found that when the organization’s defined-contribution plan was streamlined, employees chose fewer funds, reduced their portfolio risk and lowered costs.

Smart Beta Funds Can Differ Significantly
February 2016 by
Smart beta strategies are promoted for being able to take advantage of specific return anomalies, however, approaches that focus on the same anomalies can vary significantly in their underlying construction.

2015 Tax Guide Update
January 2016 by
In mid-December, Congress voted to renew many so-called tax extenders as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (H.R. 2029).

A $5 Test Can Help Avoid Financial Problems
January 2016 by
Hearing loss has been linked to an accelerated decline in cognitive abilities, which directly and adversely impacts a person’s abilities to manage their finances.

Wealth Stays Stable Until One Spouse Dies
January 2016 by
Being married is good for wealth, until one spouse dies. A study found retired couples experience stable to increasing assets, but near the time and after one of the two spouses dies, wealth declines.

Why Do People Retire Early?
January 2016 by
The most common assumptions of what causes a worker to retire early are valid, but they may play a smaller role than many suspect.

Finances and Cognitive Impairment Lead to Long-Term Care Insurance Lapses
December 2015 by
More than one-third of individuals with long-term care policies at age 65 will let their policies lapse before death, forfeiting the benefits they have previously paid for.

The U.S. Ranks Just 14th in Financial Literacy
December 2015 by
The S&P Global Finlit Survey asked adults in more than 140 economies to answer questions covering four key aspects of financial literacy and described the findings as “sobering.”

Two Social Security Claiming Strategies Ending
December 2015 by
The Social Security Administration announced it is ending “file and suspend” and restricted applications, strategies used by married and divorced couples to maximize benefits.

Women Are Better Retirement Savers
December 2015 by
A study analyzing Vanguard’s recordkeeping systems for employer-sponsor retirement plans found that women are better savers and more likely to use professional advice regarding allocation strategies than men.

A Big Rule Change for Mutual Fund and ETF Portfolios
November 2015 by
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed new rules regarding how mutual and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) construct their portfolios.

CFOs Identify Financial Statement Red Flags
November 2015 by
A survey of 375 chief financial officers (CFOs) from both publicly traded and privately held companies unveiled widely held suspicions of earnings manipulation.

FINRA Proposes Suspending Withdrawals If Fraud Is Suspected
November 2015 by
New rules intended to protect seniors from financial fraud were proposed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

Short-Term Annuities May Not Impact Medicaid Eligibility
November 2015 by
The length of time an annuity contract is in force for has no bearing on Medicaid eligibility, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third District.

Friday Evenings Used to Hide Bad News
October 2015 by
Friday evening is an opportunistic time for corporations to announce earnings. The lack of attention paid combined with a delayed reaction to news gives corporate executives an opportunity to act by buying or selling shares.

Neglected Mutual Fund Accounts Claimed by State Governments
October 2015 by
Investors can unintentionally forfeit their mutual fund accounts to state governments by not staying in contact with the mutual fund company.

Retirees Holding Onto 401(k) Savings
October 2015 by
The majority of retirees pull money out of their workplace retirement accounts but roll over the assets to other accounts, likely to fund retirement withdrawals, according to a Vanguard study.

Value of Analyst Research Is in Investor Recognition
October 2015 by
New coverage of a stock by a brokerage firm analyst has only a limited effect on increasing the amount of information available and no measurable effect on the company’s performance.

A Universal Guideline for Saving for Retirement
September 2015 by
How much do you need to save for a financially secure retirement? The answer differs for each investor, but there is a guideline that can be universally applied.

Bias Influences 401(k) Plans’ Investing Offerings
September 2015 by
When mutual fund companies are asked to help manage defined-contribution plans and set the menu of investment offerings, they often favor their own funds.

Gold Mines Aren't Perfect Substitutes for Gold
September 2015 by
A new study used exchange-traded funds to determine the diversification benefits of holding gold- mining stocks instead of gold.

Six Steps for Making Retirement Savings Last
September 2015 by
The New York Times lists six steps that people nearing retirement can take to increase the odds of not outliving their savings. All

Biology and Life Experiences Influence Investing Style
August 2015 by
An investor’s preference for value or growth stocks is influenced by both biology and environmental factors, including family wealth and economic cycles.

Economic Changes Have Little Long-Term Impact on Stocks
August 2015 by
A large part of the long-term variation in stock prices is due to unexplained factors instead of economic changes.

Financial Literacy Tied to Greater Retirement Savings
August 2015 by
An analysis of employee retirement plans found evidence supporting a link between greater financial literacy and greater retirement wealth.

How Americans Are Managing Their IRAs
August 2015 by
An analysis by the Investment Company Institute (ICI) provides insight into traditional individual retirement account (IRA) savings and withdrawal rates.

Five Warning Signs of Financial Fraud
July 2015 by
Since older Americans are often targets of investment fraud, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an alert listing five “red flags” to look for.

Fund Manager Skill Improves as Market-Cap Size Drops
July 2015 by
Investors may find more positive skill among mid-cap and small-cap mutual fund managers than among large-cap managers as an inverse relationship between skill and market capitalization exists.

Regulations Did Not Improve Analysts’ Accuracy
July 2015 by
Analysts’ earnings estimates did not become more accurate following the increased regulation put into effect in the last decade.

Sunshine Impacts Tolerances for Risk and Uncertainty
July 2015 by
The level of light, and the change in light relative to the past two days, impact tolerance for financial risk and uncertainty.

Gifting Assets: What Is the Right Amount?
June 2015 by
Five factors for structuring gift decisions and the reasoning behind them are outlined by Merrill Lynch’s Private Banking and & Investment Group.

Preference for Lower-Cost Funds Is Reducing Fees
June 2015 by
Investors, in aggregate, are paying less for mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

SEC Approves Pilot Program for Small-Cap Stocks
June 2015 by
The two-year pilot program is designed to determine whether wider spreads improve trading of small stocks.

Supreme Court: Employers Must Monitor 401(k) Investment Options
June 2015 by
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that employers have an obligation to properly monitor 401(k) investments to determine if lower-cost investment offerings are available.

Financial Disruptions Alter Retirement Plans for Many
May 2015 by
Two-thirds of American adults have experienced a disruption in their work life that has had a significant negative affect their long-term financial plans.

Fundraising Requirements Loosened for Smaller Companies
May 2015 by
The SEC adopted final rules allowing small companies to publicly raise money, which is a step toward allowing companies to sell equity via crowd funding.

Investors Have Difficulty Valuing Annuities
May 2015 by
In an attempt to understand why investors do not usually see annuities as a viable risk-transfer option, the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College (CRR) looked for a cognitive bias.

Proposed Rules for Brokers Working With Senior Investors
May 2015 by
Based on analysis of how the investment industry interacts with those aged 65 or older, the SEC and FINRA created a list of steps that broker-dealers should consider incorporating into their procedures.

Determining the Perfect Withdrawal Rate
April 2015 by
Two professors and a financial adviser have created a methodology they claim can identify the “perfect withdrawal amount.”

Tailor Retirement Withdrawals Based on Your Tax Situation
April 2015 by
Morningstar’s Christine Benz recommends a flexible approach when choosing which account to take RMDs from in retirement.

The “Other” Costs of Financial Fraud
April 2015 by
Victims of financial fraud incur varying degrees of indirect and direct financial costs as a result of the criminal activity.

The Cost of Postponing IRA Contributions Until April
April 2015 by
A Vanguard study showed that though making IRA contributions in April is a common occurrence, a “procrastination penalty” exists.

Greater 401(k) Focus on Retirement, But Not Annuities
March 2015 by
In a recent survey, most employers said they were likely to increase their focus employees' retirement planning this year, but few expressed interest in adding retirement income products to their plan offerings.

Mutual Fund Managers Don’t Outperform Individual Investors
March 2015 by
A recent study showed that mutual fund managers are no more successful at managing their own personal portfolios than most individual investors are.

Target Risk Funds Not Worth the Expense
March 2015 by
Though target risk funds share some similarities to target date funds, there are key differences; plus, they are also not the most cost-effective investment option.

The “Dirty Dozen” Tax Scams for 2015
March 2015 by
The IRS lists 12 aggressive, threatening actions by scam artists during the early weeks of the 2015 tax season.

Activist Investors Go Public to Prod Company Executives
February 2015 by
Dissident shareholders who publicly disclose their letters to management may be doing so with the intention of reaching a wider audience.

Confidence in Financial Skills Unaltered by Worsening Cognitive Skills
February 2015 by
Analysis of an ongoing study by Rush University Medical Center concluded that older adults experiencing measured declines in their cognitive skills remain confident about their financial management skills.

Gauging Your Psychological Readiness for Retirement
February 2015 by
Those near retirement should ask themselves if they psychologically ready to change their lifestyle from being employed full-time to being retired.

Many Retirees May Benefit From Non-Traditional Strategies
February 2015 by
A brief from the American Institute for Economic Research challenges two primary guidelines for retirement investing that are considered conventional wisdom.

ETFs Are Not Always Cheaper Than Mutual Funds
January 2015 by
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are perceived as being cheaper than mutual funds. Is this confirmed by reality?

Financial Advisers’ Preferences Determine Client Allocations
January 2015 by
Rather than tailoring the advice for a given client’s demographic profile, advisers suggest allocations based on the strategy they use for themselves.

The Median Stock Doesn’t Beat the Broad Market Indexes
January 2015 by
According an analysis conducted by J.P. Morgan Asset Management, the median stock underperformed, since its inception, the Russell 3000 by 54%.

The Top Investor Threats for 2015
January 2015 by
The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) named four investing strategies as emerging threats investors should be wary of in 2015.

10 Year-End Financial Actions
December 2014 by
Fidelity lists 10 tasks investors should complete before the end of the calendar year to reduce taxes, protect their portfolios and ensure their financial goals are met.

Annuities Now Allowed in Target Date Funds
December 2014 by
Deferred annuities are now to be held by target date funds within qualified defined-contribution plans, such as 401(k) plans.

Five Ways Physicians Can Protect Seniors' Portfolios
December 2014 by AAII Staff
These steps can also work well for starting a conversation with your or your parents’ doctor about cognitive impairment.

Some Analysts Use Stock Ratings to Get New Jobs
December 2014 by
Analysts who are looking to get a job working for a company they cover take a more optimistic stance and issue more reports on the companies they wish to work for, according to a recent study.

Global Investors More Focused on Meeting Needs
November 2014 by
Investors have shifted their investing focus from beating the markets to meeting predefined needs, according to a survey conducted for Principal Global Investors.

It’s Not Easy to Accumulate $1 Million in an IRA
November 2014 by
An investor would have to follow both a disciplined savings strategy and an aggressive portfolio strategy to accumulate $1 million in his or her individual retirement account (IRA).

New Rules for Rolling Over Aftertax 401(k) Contributions
November 2014 by
Taxpayers now have the option to designate which accounts pretax and aftertax contributions from 401(k), 403(b) or 457(b) plans are disbursed to.

Your House Can Be an Income-Generating Asset
November 2014 by
The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College suggests retirees should look at their house as a source of income, either by downsizing or through a reverse mortgage.

A Checklist for Rolling Over a 401(k)
October 2014 by AAII Staff
Even if you decide when changing jobs or retiring to leave your investments in your former employer’s plan, you should investigate your options to ensure you are making the best choice.

Five Investment Questions to Ask
October 2014 by
The SEC outlines five basic questions investors should ask to avoid being a victim of financial fraud.

Fund Manager Tenure Based on Peer Returns
October 2014 by
Since active mutual funds are judged on their returns, it would seem logical for the tenure of solo managers to be tied to their performance. However,one study shows that tenure has more to do with not underperforming competitors than with beating category benchmarks.

Why Momentum Strategies Can Crash
October 2014 by
Momentum strategies targeting stocks with relative outperformance have been shown to boost returns during normal market conditions; however, during the initial stage of a new bull market these strategies dramatically lose their edge.

Donald Sterling’s Lesson: Read the Estate Documents
September 2014 by
The seemingly boilerplate clauses in estate planning documents can lead to unintended consequences, as Donald Sterling found out when he lost of control over his trust, and thereby the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team.

Required Retirement Savings Rate Depends on Age and Income
September 2014 by AAII Staff
What percentage of income you need to save each year depends on the amount of replacement income needed, when you start saving for retirement and when you plan to retire.

Stress Hormone Alters Tolerances for Financial Risk
September 2014 by
A sustained increase in the stress hormone cortisol leads to both a reduced tolerance for risk and an increased preference for perceived safer, but lower-return outcomes.

Tougher for Brokers to Remove Complaints From BrokerCheck
September 2014 by
Brokers can no longer expunge customer complaint data from the Central Registration Depository System without a court order, thanks to a rule change approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Conference Calls: No or Few Questions Are Costly
August 2014 by
A lack of questions during an earnings conference call has an adverse impact on a stock’s price.

Estates, Not Heirs, Generally Pay the Debts of the Deceased
August 2014 by
The debts of a deceased parent are mostly not passed on to children, though some exceptions exist. The basic rules regarding common types of debt.

Five Situations When a Revocable Trust Can Help
August 2014 by
A revocable trust can help a person manage or protect his assets should he no longer be able to manage them himself.

Retirement Planning May Improve Your Health
August 2014 by
Whether or not a person contributes to a 401(k) plan may influence his or her health.

A Primer on Bank Sweep Programs
July 2014 by
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued an Investor Bulletin to inform investors about the characteristics and risk of broker programs that sweep uninvested cash into a bank account.

Avoiding Probate Through Account Titling
July 2014 by
The manner in which your checking accounts, brokerage accounts, retirement accounts and other similar assets are titled can play a big role in estate planning.

Supreme Court: No Bankruptcy Protection for Inherited IRAs
July 2014 by
In a unanimous ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision that inherited IRAs are not protected from creditors under the bankruptcy code.

Which IRA Should You Contribute to and When?
July 2014 by AAII Staff
Roth IRAs offer better wealth incomes than traditional IRAs do on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

Investment Knowledge Boosts Portfolio Returns
June 2014 by
Over a 30-year investment span, improved portfolio performance due to investment knowledge leads to 25% greater wealth, according to a study.

Rules for Recouping Incentive Compensation Vary
June 2014 by
One method companies have for punishing misconduct by executives is to recoup bonuses, stock options or other incentive programs.

Stocks’ Price Volatility Increased by ETF Ownership
June 2014 by
Ownership by an ETF increases a stock’s daily volatility by 16%. A National Bureau of Economic Research working paper cites arbitrage as the reason why.

Three Investment Management Tips for Couples
June 2014 by
Though it’s common for one person in a household to make the investment decisions, UBS survey respondents tasked with the responsibility didn’t express much satisfaction with the role. Tips for potentially improving outcomes and satisfaction.

10-K Filing Size Impacts Volatility
May 2014 by
Stocks of companies that file larger 10-K annual reports experience more price volatility in the period immediately following the filing date, according to a new study.

Confusion About Retirement Income Taxes
May 2014 by
Many middle-income Americans age 50 and over do not understand the tax rules regarding retirement savings, according to a Banker’s Life Center for a Secure Retirement survey.

New Rules for IRA Rollovers
May 2014 by
The IRS issued a bulletin saying that in light of a recent court case, aggregate IRA rollovers will be limited to one per person per year.

Relative Portfolio Returns Influence Happiness
May 2014 by
Whether an investor is happy or unhappy with his performance is significantly influenced by how his portfolio performs relative to the market.

Be Aware of IRA Rollover Rules
April 2014 by AAII Staff
A tax court case cast a light on the rules governing and the prudence needed for individual retirement account (IRA) rollovers.

High CEO Compensation Hurts Shareholders
April 2014 by
An analysis of mostly S&P 1500 Super Composite firms found a negative correlation between size- and industry-adjusted CEO compensation and future one- and three-year share price performance.

IRA Withdrawals: Who and How Much?
April 2014 by
Retirees are not the only ones taking withdrawals from individual retirement accounts (IRAs). An analysis by EBRI found that individuals aged 54 or younger owned 22.1% of IRAs with a withdrawal made in 2011.

Rethinking Retirement Strategies
April 2014 by
A column in Research magazine says a well-planned retirement lifestyle has a greater impact on happiness than the amount saved.

Considerations When Rolling Over a 401(k) to an IRA
March 2014 by
A key decision a person must make when leaving a job is what to do with workplace retirement savings.

Panel Advises Against Mandated Spreads for Small-Cap Stocks
March 2014 by
Mandating wider bid-ask spreads for small-cap stocks may unfairly hurt individual investors, according to the SEC's Investor Advisory Committee.

Seven Rookie Retiree Mistakes to Avoid
March 2014 by
USA Today asked financial experts to list the biggest mistakes people make during their first year of retirement and then narrowed down the list to seven key missteps.

Sources of Tax-Free Income
March 2014 by
Though most income and compensation is subject to federal taxes, not all of it is. J.K. Lasser identified 25 sources of tax-free income.

Companies Play Favorites to Hide Bad News
January 2014 by
Corporate executives selectively choose which analysts they interact with during conference calls to avoid unwanted questions. This “casting” of calls happens when there is potentially bad news a company does not want highlighted, according to Harvard researchers.

The Cloonan Award for Excellence in Investment Education
January 2014 by
James Cloonan founded the American Association of Individual Investors in 1978 with the clear understanding that individual investors have unique investment needs and opportunities. To honor Jim’s work in the field of investment education and research for the individual investor, AAII’s board of directors has established a new award.

The Top Proxy Issues of 2013, and Likely 2014
January 2014 by
IR Magazine, which covers investor relations from a global perspective, compiled a list of the top trends from 2013’s proxy season and predicted what shareholders and corporations could see in 2014.

AAII Model Shadow Stock Portfolio: Emergency Sale of FAB Universal Corp. (FU)
December 2013 by
Due to allegations raised that FAB may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public, FAB Universal (FU) is being removed from the Model Shadow Stock Portfolio.

Proxy Recommendations Driving Equity Compensation
December 2013 by
Many corporations adjust their equity compensation plans to match the targets set by proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), according to researchers who are affiliated with Harvard University and Stanford University.

Stocks May Be Unscathed by Baby Boomer Retirees
December 2013 by
The retirement of the baby-boom generation should not be a drag on stock prices, according to an analysis by Vanguard.

The Health Impact of Working in Retirement
December 2013 by
Working has a mixed impact on a retiree’s health, according to economics researcher Tunga Kantacri of Tilburg University, Netherlands.

Director Pay Rises 4.5%
November 2013 by
Pay for serving on a corporation’s board of directors continues to rise.

Increase Equity Exposure Throughout Retirement
November 2013 by
Raising exposure to stocks throughout one’s retirement may reduce both the probability of running out of money and the magnitude of any shortfalls.

Investing’s Seven Sins
November 2013 by
Kiplinger put together a list of the seven biggest missteps investors make.

Social Networks Can Influence Portfolio Allocations
November 2013 by
The financial knowledge of the people you interact with can impact your portfolio allocation decisions, especially if you and they are financially literate.

Conference Calls Get Grouchier in the Afternoon
October 2013 by
Afternoon earnings conference calls tend to be more negative, irritable, and combative than those held in during the morning hours.

The Brain’s Reaction to Market Bubbles
October 2013 by
Thinking you know what the intentions of other investors are could put you at greater financial risk during bubbles.

Adjust Savings Rates as Income Rises
September 2013 by
An adjustable approach to retirement savings may improve the odds of success, according to researchers at Dimensional Fund Advisors.

Dementia and Financial Decision Making
September 2013 by
The impact of a memory disease diagnosis on a couple’s finances depends on how actively the couple controls their retirement accounts.

More Stocks, Fewer Options Awarded
September 2013 by
More companies are awarding full-value shares of stock instead of options and are linking executive compensation to the achievement of specific goals.

Prenuptial Agreements May Not Waive Beneficiary Rights
September 2013 by
The mere inclusion of a clause in a prenuptial agreement to waive beneficiary rights to a 401(k) plan’s proceeds is not enough to enact an actual spousal waiver.

Inherited Non-Spousal IRAs Bankruptcy Exemption Questioned
July 2013 by
Inherited non-spousal individual retirement accounts (inherited IRAs) are not protected under the federal bankruptcy code, according to a recent ruling.

On the Bookshelf
July 2013 by
Comments on new investing books.

The Biggest Retirement Investing Mistakes
July 2013 by
Bankrate.com recently published a list of the seven biggest retirement investing mistakes and advice on how to avoid them.

The Good and Bad of Large 401(k) Plans
July 2013 by
Large 401(k) plans, ones with numerous investment choices, can be good for the employer, but bad for the employee.

Income Is a Challenge for Investors Worldwide
June 2013 by
Four in 10 investors worldwide are generating less income than they hope for, according to Legg Mason.

On the Bookshelf
June 2013 by
Comments on new investing books.

Pension and Settlement Streams Raise Regulatory Concerns
June 2013 by
Concerns about pension and settlement income streams prompted an investor alert from regulators.

Postpone Retirement for Your Health
June 2013 by
Retirement leads to poorer health, according to a study by Britain’s Institute of Economic Affairs.

On the Bookshelf
May 2013 by
Comments on new investing books

The Difficulty of Rolling Over 401(k) Savings
May 2013 by
Workers are both inadvertently and purposely encouraged to roll over their 401(k) plans into individual retirement accounts (IRAs) when changing jobs.

A Lack of Openness Between Advisers and Investors
April 2013 by
A report from analytics firm Cerulli Associates revealed differences in how investors and financial advisers perceive their financial relationship.

Big Ad Spending Not Influencing Retirement Savings Behavior
April 2013 by
Americans remain unprepared for retirement, even though the financial services industry spent $1.14 billion in 2011 advertising retirement planning products and services.

If Your 401(k) Could Talk…
April 2013 by
Actuarial consultant Milliman imagines your 401(k) plan would bring up 10 important points if it could talk.

Proposals to Reform Money Market Funds
April 2013 by
Three proposals to reform money market funds were the subject of a letter from the presidents of 12 Federal Reserve banks to the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

Investors Uncertain, But Saving and Budgeting More
December 2012 by
Nearly half of affluent investors expect today’s economic uncertainty not only to continue, but also to be “more of a permanent reality,” according to the latest Merrill Lynch Affluent Insights Survey.

On the Bookshelf
December 2012 by
Comments on new investing books

Questioning High Approval Rates for Executive Compensation
December 2012 by
Overwhelmingly, shareholder votes are approving executive compensation.

Worries About Retirement Spread
December 2012 by
More Americans are worried about having enough saved for retirement, according to the Pew Research Center.

On the Bookshelf
November 2012 by
Comments on new investing books.

Retirement Savings Advice From Retirees
November 2012 by
Fifty-four percent of current retirees are confident they will be able to live comfortably throughout retirement, in contrast to only a quarter of those below the retirement age and currently employed, according to a new survey.

401(k) Changes Leading to More Participation and Diversification
October 2012 by
Changes in the 401(k) landscape have resulted in employee participation rates remaining high and leading to more diversification, according to an Aon Hewitt study.

Emerging and Persistent Investor Threats Named
October 2012 by
The list of potentially dangerous financial products and practices updated by the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) includes practices designed to exploit new and existing federal laws.

Ready for Retirement at Age 65? 70?
October 2012 by
A study cited by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) cast doubt on whether most Americans will be ready to retire at age 70, let alone age 65.

Retirement Savings Have Not Adjusted to Changed Risks
October 2012 by
Americans’ ratio of wealth-to-income declined in 2010, based on an analysis of the Federal Reserve’s triennial survey of household wealth.

Forthcoming Changes in Employee Benefits
September 2012 by
Employees, and possibly even retirees, could be looking at higher expenses, but potentially more choices, when it comes to benefits.

On the Bookshelf
September 2012 by
Comments on new investing books.

Poor Advice About Social Security
September 2012 by
When to start taking Social Security benefits is a difficult decision that has a significant impact on retirees. Yet, a new working paper finds that individuals who turn to financial advisers for help are often misguided.

The Impact of Experience on Performance
September 2012 by
Individual investors adapt their trading strategies over time, but only partially learn from their mistakes.

401(k) Plans Changing, But Not Communication
August 2012 by
The big trend among employer-sponsored retirement plans is automatic features.

Bad Behavior in the Financial Industry
August 2012 by
A sizeable number of financial services professionals said they have either observed, have firsthand knowledge of or feel pressured to engage in unlawful or unethical behavior, according to a new survey.

From the Bookshelf
August 2012 by
Comments on new investing books

Target Date Funds Growing in Popularity
August 2012 by
Target date funds are growing in popularity among defined-contribution participants, according to Vanguard.

From the Bookshelf
July 2012 by
Comments on new investing books.

Gender Gap in Financial Literacy Is Growing
July 2012 by
The gap between men and women in knowledge and awareness of personal finances is growing, according to a new survey by Financial Finesse.

Look Beyond Asset Allocation for Retirement Security
July 2012 by
Asset allocation is an important part of investing—but it is not the most effective option to ensure financial security in retirement, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

Retirement Strategies for Volatile Markets
July 2012 by
Volatile and uncertain market conditions are particularly troublesome for those who have recently retired or are near retirement.

Early Retirement, Early Death?
June 2012 by
A study by Josef Zweimuller, Andreas Kuhn and Jean-Philippe Wuellrich at the University of Zurich suggests that early retirement could lead to an earlier death.

Five Steps for Increasing Retirement Income
June 2012 by
Fidelity Investments modeled five steps that investors of all ages can use to increase their retirement income.

From the Bookshelf
June 2012 by
Comments on new investing books.

Mutual Fund Fees Decline, Slightly
June 2012 by
Average expense ratios for mutual funds that primarily invest in stocks declined four basis points last year, according to the Investment Company Institute (ICI).

Americans Worried About Retirement Savings, But Saving More
May 2012 by
The proportion of Americans who are worried about not having saved enough money for retirement is increasing, according to The 2012 Scottrade American Retirement Study. At the same time, more Americans are seeking ways to save more money.

Are Financial Advisers Encouraging Bad Behavior?
May 2012 by
Not only do many financial advisers fail to discourage behavioral finance errors by investors, but many advisers also reinforce behaviors that are in their own best interest, according to a new working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Be Wary of Crowd Funding Start-Ups
May 2012 by
Later this year, or early next year, you will have the chance to buy shares in privately held companies through a process known as crowd funding. If an offering seems interesting, tread carefully, do as much research as you can and only commit money you can afford to lose.

From the Bookshelf
May 2012 by
Comments on new investing books.

10 Tips for Getting More out of Your IRA
April 2012 by
The effectiveness of an individual retirement account (IRA) can be maximized through a combination of strategic planning and careful decision-making.

From the Bookshelf
April 2012 by
Comments on new investing books.

Life Spans, Health Care Costs and Rethinking Retirement
April 2012 by
Three out of four affluent Americans would change how they approach money management if they knew they would live to be 100, according to the Merrill Lynch Affluent Insights Survey.

Target Date Funds Misunderstood
April 2012 by
A survey by ING revealed gaps in investor understanding of how target date funds are designed, how they are managed, and what they are designed to do.

A Majority of Advisers Are Investment, Not Financial, Planners
March 2012 by
Many advisers are misclassifying the types of services they provide, according to Cerulli Associates.

Current Conditions Alter Future Expectations
March 2012 by
Researchers at the University of Michigan found that expectations for future events are influenced by current economic conditions.

Investments That Concern FINRA
March 2012 by
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently listed several types of investments with heightened conduct and suitability issues.

On the Bookshelf
March 2012 by
Comments on new investing books.

Age and Reactions to Financial Advice
January 2012 by
How a person reacts to financial advice depends on age, according to a preliminary study conducted by The College of William & Mary’s Mason School of Business.

Baby Boomers and Stock Valuations
January 2012 by
Will the retirement of baby boomers impact the valuations of stocks? Research published by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco argues it may.

From the Bookshelf
January 2012 by
Comments on news investing books.

Younger and Older Investors Use Conservative Allocations
January 2012 by
Retirement investment styles are not differing by age group, according to a survey of nearly 600 higher education employees by Fidelity Investments.

Bond Commissions Are Misunderstood
December 2011 by
Bond commissions are a mystery to many investors, according to a study conducted for Charles Schwab.

The Impact of Online Forums on Financial Decisions
December 2011 by
Participation in online communities can lead to riskier financial decisions.

Regulators Warn About Self-Directed IRAs
November 2011 by
A recent increase in fraudulent investment schemes involving self-directed individual retirement accounts (IRAs) has caught the attention of regulators.

What Defines a Bear Market?
November 2011 by AAII Staff
The severity of a market fall determines how it is categorized and helps to provide a sense of how quickly a rebound may occur.

Fidelity Top Choice for IRA Rollovers
October 2011 by
Investors who recently rolled over their 401(k) plan to an IRA chose Fidelity more than any other brokerage firm, according to a recent survey by Millionaire Corner/Spectrem Group.

From the Bookshelf
October 2011 by
Comments on new investing books.

Protecting Elders From Financial Abuse
October 2011 by
Investors can call for free advice and guidance on how to protect themselves and loved ones against financial abuse and scams on November 10, 2011.

Understanding the Impact of Compounding Increases Savings Rates
October 2011 by
Knowing how big of an impact compounded returns will have on retirement savings can prompt investors to save more money.

Couples Lack Communication on Retirement Goals
September 2011 by
Less than half of couples jointly handle retirement savings investment decisions, according to a new study by Fidelity Investments.

From the Bookshelf
September 2011 by
Comments on new investing books.

Marital Status and Retirement Preparation
September 2011 by
Marital status has a big impact on how prepared an individual is for retirement, according to a working paper published by Michael Hurd and Susann Rohwedder of the RAND Corporation.

SEC Issues Family Office Rule
September 2011 by
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted a new rule defining “family offices.”

From the Bookshelf
July 2011 by
Comments on new investing books.

Researching Adviser Fees Gets Easier
July 2011 by
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has made it easier for investors to look up and compare financial adviser fees and policies. The Form ADV Part II Brochure now discloses information that advisers previously did not have to include in regulatory filings.

The Recession and Retirement Income
July 2011 by
The “Great Recession” of 2007–2009 will reduce average annual incomes at age 70 by 4.3%, or $2,300, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

The SEC Warns About Reverse Mergers
July 2011 by
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a bulletin about reverse mergers in early June. The bulletin provided information about reverse mergers and advice on how investors can protect themselves.

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