401k Investors Want Help With Asset Allocation Strategies.

This article will focus on 401k plan participants expressed desire for help with asset allocation strategies; but, with a twist.

The author just finished reading a white paper prepared by ING Retirement Research Institute released on 3/31/2011. The title of the report is “Shedding Light on Retirement.” 2,600 401k plan participants were surveyed by the Boston Consulting Group on behalf of ING. One commentator took the report and proclaimed that the report indicated plan participants wanted help from their employers with asset allocation strategies. In fact 89% of the respondents said this was the help they wanted.

This is why I always prefer to read source material. Yes, the plan participants did say they wanted this help. However, in looking at the report, there were notable paradoxes in the responses. Specifically, 79% said they want control over how they invest; yet, over half stated they want more guidance, a roadmap, from their employer. In addition, 76% stated they want more investment choices; however, over half said they do not know how to achieve their retirement goals.

ING’s response to this survey was to create a website to help participants with education and offer personal contact, if they wish.

I suppose that is one solution. Perhaps another solution would be for employers to include professional 401k advisors for face-to-face, employee consultations. Survey participants seemed to suggest this is what they wanted; but, will such an offering by employers expose them to the Fiduciary Liability that they were so anxious to avoid when they terminated defined benefit plans?

Perhaps the responsibility is on the employee to realize they are truly on their own to find finance professional for themselves. Asset allocation strategies are not the only thing that 401k plan participants desire.  Many said they need help determining how much money they will need to take them through their retirement years and they also wanted help with an annual checkup to see if they are on track. Perhaps 401k advisors are the answer. The real question is how to deliver the service.

Importance of Inheritance Tax Planning

Inheritance tax planning could be very helpful for your beneficiary to pay little tax on their inheritance. Often people overlook this important aspect and their beneficiaries have to pay excessive taxes. The beneficiary who is named in the legal will is liable to pay inheritance tax.
In simple words, inheritance tax is the tax on assets which you have received from the deceased ones. The tax rates involve a number of issues such as your relationship with the deceased, type of the assets and total value of the assets. As a beneficiary, you could claim several reductions on the tax owned on Inheritance. In U.S normally State Government collects inheritance tax.
You may find hundreds of books, articles, websites and blogs which are helpful to get a proper understanding about inheritance tax. Many people have shared their real life stories related to inheritance tax in numerous blogs. You may read these stories to make a comparison with your particular case to get a proper understanding and right measures to deal with the situation. Often people do pay huge inheritance taxes which could be easily avoided. The modern technology of internet has made it very simple for you to get all information at the comfort of your home with the help of few mouse clicks.
Taking the help of private wealth management advisors is also very effective tool to adopt the right procedure and steps towards reduction of inheritance tax. These wealth management advisors may charge minimal charges about their services. Your chosen advisor would help you in deciding the right you should try to look for the ones, who are reliable and trustworthy. Do a small research before hiring any advisors. You could make a use of major search engines to locate the private wealth advisors operating in your area.