Retirement Advisor

Financial markets have been on a wild ride the past two weeks. Here's how markets reacted in the first week of August.

Claims by politicians and industry lobbyists (is there a difference?) suggest costs will increase if the DOL changes the definition of Fiduciary. Heres a way to test that hypothesis.

Rattled by all the chaos and unpredictability in the markets? Get used to it. Predictions from global professional services company Towers Watson say dramatic financial developments over the past week or so like S&Ps downgrade are likely to keep happening for a number of years.

The turmoil on Wall Street has hit the nation's largest public pension fund, which lost about $18 billion off the value of its stock portfolio from July 1 until Tuesday's market rebound.

So much for the Fed-inspired rally. Investors' attention has turned back to the weak economy and that's bad news for stocks.

Just when they thought it was safe to go back in the water, many 401(k) investors who were regaining their comfort level with the stock market took another hit.

Stocks are rising at the closing of trading after the Federal Reserve said it has discussed policy moves it can make to spur the economy. The Fed also said growth has been slower than expected.

The first six trading days of August struck a blow to pension plans sponsored by S&P 1500 companies, with the aggregate funded status decreasing by $191 billion to a funding deficit of $496 billion and an aggregate funded ratio of 73 percent as of the market close on Aug. 8....