ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The Newport Group, a leading provider of retirement and executive benefit plans, has been in the forefront of helping financial advisors and plan sponsors prepare for new DOL fee disclosure regulations.

The Newport Group, a leading provider of retirement and executive benefit plans, is helping educate financial advisors and plan sponsors about new Department of Labor (DOL) regulations which will require retirement plan recordkeepers to disclose service fees and investment expenses differently than in the past.

Newport has been preparing for these new fee disclosure requirements for over a year, in advance of final regulations issued this spring. Throughout 2011 and 2012, Newport has conducted a well-received communications campaign to both retirement plan sponsors and their financial advisors, through a series of newsletters, webcasts, sample disclosures, and online presentationsas well as a special presentation during its annual Advisor Conference. The firms longstanding practice of full fee disclosure fits well with the new requirements, noted Rob Schaffernoth, Newport Vice President, Retirement Services.

At Newport, we fully support the DOLs efforts to help plan sponsors and participants understand the true costs of their retirement plans, said Schaffernoth. For many years, Newport has led the industry in fee transparency, and our plan sponsors have consistently recognized this by naming us best in class for both fee disclosure and fee fairness.

Deadlines for the disclosures are drawing near, Schaffernoth noted. The deadline for providers to disclose fees to plan sponsors is July 1, 2012. Sponsors themselves must begin to provide full fee information to their employees beginning August 30, 2012.

For plan sponsor fee disclosure, service providers must provide sponsor fee disclosures not just by the deadline, but as any changes are made to service agreements, investment menus, or fee structures. Newport will deliver its disclosure to each associated financial advisor and subsequently to each plan sponsor. It will also be available online through the firms plan management website plandestination.com.

Plan sponsors must provide participant fee disclosure when employees initially become eligible for the plan and at least annually thereafter, after initial disclosures in August. Newport will support sponsors and their advisors by providing a draft participant disclosure delivered to advisors and plan sponsors. Newport has redesigned its quarterly retirement account statements to show any administrative and transaction expenses incurred by the plan participant.

Schaffernoth added that Newports in-house experts are available on a consulting basis to support advisors and plan sponsors in understanding the new regulations.

Clearly, compliance with the DOL regulations entails a significant marshalling of resources, Schaffernoth commented. Were encouraged by the feedback weve received from plan advisors, who have been very complimentary about the amount of information weve provided, and the guidance offered by our in-house legal staff. We look forward to helping to usher in a new era of openness about plan fees in the retirement services industry.

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Newport Helps “Usher in New Era” of Retirement Plan Fee Disclosure

ONGAR, England, May 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Award-winning Bower Retirement Services offers a real alternative for retired property owners looking to use their homes to finance their retirement

A recent investigation by the Independent on Sunday found some 250,000 people will owe thousands of pounds on interest-only mortgages when they retire over the course of the next decade. With no income and little in the way of pension to pay this off, many elderly people will be faced with losing their homes.

3 trillion is locked up in property in the United Kingdom. Even taking aside the 1 trillion that is mortgaged, that's a huge amount of money just sitting there, locked in bricks and mortar. Faced with mortgages and no income many people of retirement age sell their homes and downsize, using the cash from the sale to clear their mortgage and pay off outstanding debts.

But it shouldn't be the case that just because a person retires with a mortgage they need to sell their home. There is another way.

With so much money locked up in property, it makes sense to unlock some of this wealth and Bower Retirement Services has the key. It is an equity release firm that can help unlock money from a property to help pay for an existing mortgage or to provide a living allowance to supplement a state pension. Homeowners can find out just how much equity they can release from their property with Bower Retirement Services using its free equity release calculator.

There are four different types of equity release plans on offer from Bower Retirement Services: lump sum lifetime mortgages, lifetime mortgage with flexible cash release, interest only lifetime mortgages and home reversion plans.

The first works in a similar way to a standard mortgage except interest and the outstanding mortgage balance are paid only when vacating the property.

The second, also known as a drawdown mortgage, works in the same way as the above except homeowners can also withdraw cash from a cash reserve at an agreed frequency over a pre-set number of years.

Interest only mortgages, as the name suggests, only require the interest to be paid each month. The amount borrowed remains intact and is repaid when the property is sold.

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Equity Release Can Prevent Retired Property Owners Losing Their Homes Report Bower Retirement Services

ONGAR, England, May 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Bower Retirement Services offers advice on how the elderly can ride out the double-dip recession

The UK is officially back in recession. This is bad news for everyone, but particularly savers. A new round of quantitative easing is likely and this will further subdue interest rates, eroding the value of savings and pensions in real terms. This puts great pressure on people nearing retirement age, particularly those with mortgages. Smaller pensions and savings will mean retirement dreams remain dreams and homeowners with mortgages face loosing their homes. But there is a way to prevent all this: unlocking the collective 3 trillion the UK has tied up in property.

Bower Retirement Services is an award-winning equity release advice service that puts homeowners in touch with the UK's best equity release providers. It offers impartial advice, a free equity release calculator and information on each and every equity release scheme available to homeowners.

There are four equity release products to choose from, which a homeowner will pick will dependent on their current financial situation and the purpose of the equity release.

Lump sum mortgages are best suited to people looking to minimise monthly outgoings. With this product, homeowners pay the interest and the remaining mortgage value when they vacate the property. There are no monthly repayments.

A lifetime mortgage with flexible cash release, also known as a drawdown mortgage, works in the same manner as the above with the addition of regular cash withdrawals. Interest is charged on these withdrawals but is only paid upon sale of the property. This is most suitable for retirees looking to supplement their state pension.

Interest only lifetime mortgages are for people looking for a lump sum to pay off debts or to go on the trip of a lifetime. Interest is paid each month, but a percentage of the property's value is borrowed and awarded as a lump sum. When the property is sold the original capital borrowed must be repaid. This product requires credit checks to make sure the property owner can repay the interest each month.

Home reversion plans are for people looking to release large sums of money from their home but don't want to move to a smaller property. The property or a percentage of it is sold to the equity release firm providing a lump sum. People can stay in their property but pay monthly rent to the equity release firm. The balance will be cleared when the property is sold.

About Bower Retirement Services

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How the Double-Dip Recession Will Impact the Elderly, Report Bower Retirement Services

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., May 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --MassMutual's Retirement Services Division continues its web-based RetireSmart(SM) interactive participant education series with "Social Security and Your Retirement," directly addressing a key topic of interest for participants of all ages based on 2011's post-event surveys.

MassMutual's live online seminar is scheduled for Wednesday, June 27 at 12:00 p.m. ET. During the 30-minute presentation, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will discuss the role Social Security will play in today's retirement plans. Specifically, the SSA will cover:

A 30-minute interactive question and answer session will directly follow the presentation.

"MassMutual's RetireSmart participant education series is just one way we engage participants and help them make smarter retirement decisions," says E. Heather Smiley, chief marketing officer for MassMutual's Retirement Services Division. "With the future of social security a top concern today, we knew participants were seeking more information on the role it will play in their retirement plans. MassMutual went straight to the source and is pleased to have a speaker from the Social Security Administration lead this much-anticipated presentation," adds Smiley.

MassMutual's latest RetireSmart online seminar, "Understanding Target Date & Target Risk Investments," featured three leaders of its own investment and portfolio teams to help explain the basics of target-date and target-risk investment strategies. The 30-minute presentation, led by Michael Eldredge, CFA, vice president; Bruce Picard, Jr., CFA, investment director; and Frederick (Rick) Schulitz, CFA, investment director, discussed how to take charge of retirement investing in today's market environment, the ABCs of target strategies, and how these investments may fit an overall retirement plan. Following the presentation, 60% of attendees indicated their intent to review their investment mix and 28% planned to consider a target-date or target-risk investment strategy based on the post-event survey. A free replay of this seminar is available for anyone who missed the live event.

Space for the upcoming "Social Security and Your Retirement" seminar is prioritized to retirement plan sponsors and participants on MassMutual's platform. MassMutual retirement plan clients can register by logging in to their retirement plan account at http://www.retiresmart.com or by visiting http://www.retiresmartseminars.com.

For more information about MassMutual Retirement Services, please contact your retirement plan advisor or call MassMutual at 1-866-444-2601.

This presentation is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as, and is not intended as, investment, retirement, tax or financial planning advice. No securities or other financial products or services will be offered for sale.

About MassMutual

MassMutual Financial Group is a marketing name for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) [of which Retirement Services is a division] and its affiliated companies and sales representatives. MassMutual is headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts and its major affiliates include: Babson Capital Management LLC; Baring Asset Management Limited; Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC; The First Mercantile Trust Company; MassMutual International LLC; MML Investors Services, LLC, Member FINRA and SIPC; OppenheimerFunds, Inc.; and The MassMutual Trust Company, FSB.

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"Social Security and Your Retirement"

Retirement planning is about more than saving money. It's about what you're going to do. Here are three ways to stay active in retirement.

In 2009, Rusty Arnesen was forced into retirement. He hadn't planned to leave his job as chief deputy public defender for San Diego County in California quite so soon. He was shocked.

"I'd had a very busy job overseeing 100 lawyers and working at least 50 hours a week," says Mr. Arnesen, who now golfs, does some pro bono legal work, and has several high-level volunteer jobs. "Now, I'm looking for more things to volunteer for. I hadn't figured what it would be like" in retirement.

Neither do many Americans. For all the emphasis put on saving for retirement, planning for what to do in retirement is often lacking. While that may not pose an immediate problem new data from the MetLife Mature Market Institute show 70 percent of 65-year-old retirees thoroughly enjoy retirement it's not clear that enjoyment endures. That's why many experts suggest embracing some second act during this period that can last 30 years or more.

"There's the honeymoon period for the first six months. Then restlessness sets in, and you wonder what to do with the rest of your life," says Todd Tresidder, founder of FinancialMentor.com in Reno, Nev. "That's where [today's] whole new retirement comes in."

The transition tends to be more difficult for men. While 77 percent of men (72 percent of women) have planned financially for retirement, more women have "thought about what they'd like to do in retirement," says a survey released in January by Ameriprise Financial. For example, 41 percent say they plan to spend more time with family (34 percent of men); 21 percent place importance on their proximity to friends (13 percent of men); 25 percent say they've spent time determining how they will rest and relax in retirement (19 percent of men).

"Women tend to have many friends, while men tend to have relatively few friends," says Donald Strauss, codirector at RetireRight Center, a Chicago-based retirement planning firm and coauthor of "Customize ... Don't Minimize ... Your Retirement." Since men have been focused on work through much of their adult lives, they've built structures and an identity around it. Retirement "leaves them with a vacuum to be filled."

What to do? Sure, take a breather after a busy career. But then reengage in something. Here are some options:

Turn your passion into a new career. Instead of "retiring," reinvent yourself, says Mark Walton, author of "Boundless Potential." Do something that "lets you be as successful as you were earlier in life." It doesn't matter if that role creates income, he adds. The shift can be dramatic, such as moving from something technical to an artistic endeavor.

To get started, determine what absorbs your attention; explore how to convert it into real work, then envision a working structure to make that happen in the marketplace. For many, "it will involve inventing and marketing something themselves being an entrepreneur," says Mr. Walton, chairman and founder of the Center for Leadership Communication in Chapel Hill, N.C.

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Retirement: 3 ways to enrich it without adding money

(credit: Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

BOSTON (CBS) The reality is that you are going to be responsible for your own retirement savings. Fewer employers are offering pensions to employees.

Waiting to start to save until you are 40 is a big financial mistake. You have already let the key years for saving pass you by.

If you start at forty and plan to retire at age 67 you have 27 years of savings and investing. But if you start at age twenty you have 47 years.

The longer you wait to start saving for retirement the more money you will need to save.

If you want a $1 million in your retirement nest egg, and I used an 8% return which is realistic, and you start at age 20 you will need to come up with $160 a month for your retirement account. That will amount to about $94,000 saved over 47 years.

If you wait until age 40 to start you will need to invest $880 a month, thats $284,000 or 3 times the amount if you had started earlier.

At 40 you could have kids needing braces, college tuition, a car. Then there is really no money left over for retirement savings.

I have included a chart to illustrate retirement savings at various times in your working career on our website.

You are never too young to start thinking about saving for retirement. A kid in high school with her first job should be introduced to retirement planning by her parents.

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Retirement Myths: I Can Start Saving For Retirement When I’m 40

Yesterday my step son had to put down his four-legged companion of the past fifteen years. The dog had lived well beyond her expected lifetime, but that did not make it any easier. He and his sister spent the afternoon with Princess spoiling her with peanut butter and cinnamon rolls, laying with her on the lawn where she had grown up from a puppy, and saying their goodbyes. It was a difficult time for everyone.

Sometimes retirement is a time when we must say our goodbyes to people and things we have loved. Once you reach a certain age it is inevitable that you will begin to see more people you know or admire in the obituary columns. This is why it is so important to spend time with the people that you love now.

The rapid pace of daily life too often distracts us from what we really want to be doing. Before we know it, years have passed and we find ourselves looking back on memories of people, places, and things that played a significant role in our lives. Some people we meet will barely cast a shadow, while others will have a real impact. But we never know how long we have left with people we care about.

Friends that we have had forever should not be taken for granted. Family that on occasion annoys us should be shown a bit more patience and understanding. Co-workers who may not have the best work ethic are still people living lives filled with challenges and deserving of our compassion. If you have something that you want to share, now is the time. If you wait too long to appreciate someone while they are still here, you may miss your opportunity all together. Few of us will be given a second chance to make right what we neglected the first time around.

The time will come when someone important to you is no longer here and everything you would like to say will remain unsaid. Here are a few things you shouldn't put off until tomorrow:

--Take the time to say "I love you" to those dearest to you. In our family we make a point of sharing these simple but magical words every time we say goodbye, whether on the phone or face to face.

--Let go of a grudge you have been stubbornly clinging to. In the overall scheme of things, how important is it really?

--Forgive an offense that still upsets you whenever you think of it. Holding onto anger will slowly eat you up inside.

--Really listen when someone talks to you, and hear the meaning behind the words.

--Step outside of the hustle and bustle and spend some quality time with important people in your life.

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Sometimes Retirement Means Saying Goodbye

"What's a realistic retirement age? How much longer will most of us have to work?" -- Charles Maimone, Wilmington, N.C.

The answer depends on how successful you've been at saving, how cushy a lifestyle you would like to have and, of course, when you prefer to disengage.

That said, after the battering 401(k)s took during the financial crisis, a lot of people feel they'll have to stay on the job beyond the traditional age of 65.

In a recent Wells Fargo survey, 12% of affluent Americans estimated that they'd have to work until age 80 to live comfortably in retirement. Okay, that's extreme. But when SunAmerica Financial Group surveyed pre-retirees last year, it found that workers were expecting to exit at 69 on average, up five years from a decade earlier.

The upside to waiting

There's no doubt that if you've fallen behind in your retirement planning, staying in the workforce longer can dramatically improve your chances of achieving a secure post-career life.

You'll have more years to contribute to your retirement accounts, and your investments have more time to grow. And the combination of extending your career and postponing Social Security can often boost the size of your benefit by 8% or more for each additional year you toil. Every extra year you work is also one fewer that your savings will have to support. That alone reduces the chances that your savings will run out.

Those are just the financial benefits: Research shows that as long as you're not slogging away at a job you abhor, working can improve your physical and psychological well-being and keep you more socially engaged.

How much will you need for retirement?

The choice isn't yours

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Retirement age: At least 65

Retirement security seems to be an issue that the candidates running for president are running away from. But they shouldn't, according to growing number of executives in the financial services industry.

In fact, executives and others are demanding that President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican candidate, lay out their respective positions on various retirement security issues, such as Social Security, automatic IRAs and the like.

Earlier this month, for instance, Robert Reynolds, the chief executive officer of Putnam Investments, asked in no uncertain terms that Obama and Romney endorse the tax incentives now in place for retirement saving programs such as the 401(k) and start debating how to make Social Security solvent.

In short, Reynolds called on the candidates from both political parties to recognize retirement security as not only a vital national challenge, but a key element in solving our nation's debt and deficit crisis over the long term. "If we solve the retirement challenge it would have a huge benefit for all Americans," Reynolds said in an interview. "If someone's future is secure, it allows them to do so much more with their lives."

Weeks later, we're still waiting.

Obama and Romney have not responded to Reynolds' call. So, we set out to learn what each of the candidate's positions are on some of the major retirement security issues, and to echo Reynolds' plea for action as well.

Social Security

When it comes to making Social Security solvent, a spokesperson for Romney referred us to the campaign's website. And here's what Romney wants to do to fix Social Security:

First, for future generations of seniors, the retirement age should be slowly increased to account for increases in longevity. And two, for future generations of seniors, benefits should continue to grow but that the growth rate should be lower for those with higher incomes.

"With just those two simple steps, and no change in benefits for those at or near retirement, America can guarantee the preservation of the Social Security system for the foreseeable future," according to Romney's website.

Continued here:
How Both Obama and Romney Threaten Your Retirement

"The Boomer is a column written for adults nearing retirement age and those already in their golden years. It will also promote reader interaction by posting e-mail responses and answering reader questions. E-mail your questions or topic ideas to thefoxboomer@gmail.com.

Heres a scary statistic: About 49% of Americans say they aren't contributing to any retirement fund.

A new survey conducted by LIMRA, a trade association for the financial services industry, shows less than a third of Americans over age 50 worked with a financial professional to plan for retirement.

"The findings from this survey were disturbing, given that people will increasingly need to rely on their personal savings to make ends meet in retirement," says Matthew Drinkwater, associate managing director at LIMRA's retirement research division, in a statement.

Boomers need to take a more proactive role when it comes to their retirement and making sure they have adequate savings to cover their needs. Saving systematically can have a dramatic impact on boomers lifestyles after they leave the workforce.

The survey asked consumers what investment vehicles they were using to save for their retirement (when they were) and according to Drinkwater, only 45% of respondents in their 50s were contributing to a defined contribution plan, while 16% were contributing to a ROTH and 20% to a traditional IRA. Heres the more-troubling stat: Drinkwater says a survey conducted earlier this year showed 29% of those 55 or older reported being confident they were saving enough money to last through retirement.

So what gives? If boomers arent saving for retirement because they dont have enough funds leftover after covering daily expenses like food, housing, gas and putting kids through college, how do they feel like they will have enough savings for retirement? Well, many dont plan to ever retire fully or will delay leaving the workforce.

Although it may make sense to at least plan to work as long as you can, says Drinkwater, I don't think many people are going to be able to do that into their 70s and 80s. That is not really the solution. If you look at current retirees, a lot of them say that they retired earlier than expected.

He cited a two-year old survey that showed 38% of respondents retired when they planned to, with 56% saying they retired earlier than anticipated. Of that 56%, close to half had to leave involuntarily. The mindset of I dont have to save as much because I plan to work longer is risky.

You may need to think again because you may be jeopardizing your retirement security because you may have to make those dollars last longer than you had planned for.

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Why Boomers Aren't Saving for Retirement