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How a Generative AI System Handled a 401(k) Question

Tax Diversification: Having both pre-tax and Roth accounts can provide tax diversification in retirement, giving you flexibility in managing your tax liability. Future Tax Considerations: If you anticipate being in a higher tax bracket during retirement, or believe that tax rates may increase in the future, a Roth 401(k) could be beneficial. Ultimately, the decision may involve a combination of both types of accounts, depending on your individual circumstances and goals. Some individuals choose to contribute to both a regular and a Roth 401(k) to achieve a balance of immediate tax benefits and tax-free withdrawals in retirement. It’s advisable to consult with a financial advisor or tax professional who can analyze your specific situation and provide guidance based on your financial goals and current tax laws. Grading the AI’s Performance Overall, ChatGPT provided safe, accurate responses by explaining more technical financial products in layman’s terms. The accuracy of the advice is reassuring among previous complaints of chatbots “hallucinating,” or making up answers for prompts. It’s also interesting that ChatGPT picked up on the relevance of product diversity when making investment decisions, as that is a bit more nuanced than I expected for an automated response. Given the highly regulated nature of our...

12 Most Expensive Retirement Towns 0

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12 Most Expensive Retirement Towns

Start Slideshow Where people who have retired choose to settle down for the rest of their lives depends on many factors, but for most Americans the chief consideration centers on their financial circumstances. According to recent research, two-thirds of Americans who will turn 65 by the end of this decade are not financially ready for retirement and are at risk of outliving their savings. That means they will be seriously constrained in choosing where to live. Even comfortably retired people still have to keep an eye on their finances, and many relocate to places that are inexpensive and offer a satisfying life. Those who have saved enough for retirement have the luxury of considering places that allow them to pursue their desired lifestyle, have abundant amenities such as good restaurants and entertainment venues, and beckon with ideal weather. These places also often come with a hefty price tag, according to recent research from GOBankingRates. To arrive at its ranking of the most expensive retirement towns, GOBankingRates first isolated all U.S. cities with a total population greater than 25,000 and more than 25% of their population 65 and older. Researchers then pulled data from various sources, up to date as of...

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Behind ‘Another Record Year’ for eMoney: CEO

What You Need to Know Savvy advisors see the future of their practice in the financial planning process. Advisors who can build financial plans more efficiently and collaboratively will stand out. The evolving landscape of financial advice demands a tech-forward approach. More and more wealth advisors see the promise of their practice in the financial planning process, according to eMoney CEO Susan McKenna. The effort to craft a holistic (and fee-based) client relationship is steadily overtaking the traditional investment-oriented approach. It’s been nearly two years since McKenna became the CEO, having moved into the role after leading the firm’s marketing and client acquisition efforts since 2018. The “big planning trend” has only accelerated in that time, she said, leading to a series of record growth years for eMoney’s planning platform. “You sometimes hear people talking about a growth issue in the advisory industry, but we’re not seeing that,” McKenna recently told ThinkAdvisor. “We’re actually on track for another record year as more advisors embrace a planning-centric approach.” More than 109,000 financial professionals across firms of all sizes use the eMoney platform to serve more than 6.3 million U.S. households, with a combined wealth of more than $2 trillion. McKenna said...

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California Commissioner Announces FAIR Plan Modernization Deal

Article 0 Comments California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said on Friday that he and the California Fair Plan have agreed to establishing a new high value commercial coverage option with limits up to $20 million per building and other steps that he said will modernize the state’s “insurer of last resort.” The changes are part of Lara’s so-called Sustainable Insurance Strategy intended to stabilize the California homeowners insurance market and address the insurance crisis. Carriers are pulling back from the state’s homeowners market, blaming blamed wildfire losses as well as regulations. State Farm has applied for large rate increases in California, a year after the carrier got rate approvals of 7% and 20%. The insurer, the largest in California, insures nearly one-in-five homes in the state. It recently requested a 30% rate increase for its homeowners line, a 52% rate increase for renters and 36% rate increase for condo coverage. Related: California Wildfire Continues to Spread Rapidly to 164K Acres Allstate, which stopped issuing new California homeowners insurance policies in 2022, is seeking an increase in its California homeowners insurance premiums by an average of 34%. It would be the largest rate increase this year and would impact more than...

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Business Moves: NFP, Clear Group, and Strategic Risk Group Complete 4 Acquisitions

Article 0 Comments Three brokers – NFP, Clear Group, and Strategic Risk Group – each announced acquisitions during July. In reverse chronological order, the acquisitions are listed as follows: NFP, the New York-based insurance broker and Aon subsidiary, announced on July 24 that it had acquired DuSean Barrett Bloodstock Insurances Ltd., which trades under the name of Barrett Private Insurances. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Acquisition of Dublin-based business will strengthen the specialized insurance solutions and services NFP offers in Ireland. John Barrett, director of Sean Barrett Bloodstock Insurances Ltd., will join NFP as a managing director with a focus on growing the company’s Private Client Group in Ireland and the UK, which focuses on providing customized risk solutions for high-net-worth individuals and families. “We’ve established a strong presence in the Irish market through organic growth and acquisition, and the expertise of the team at Sean Barrett Bloodstock Insurances will undoubtedly strengthen it further,” said JP Allcock, group managing director, NFP in Europe. “Their commitment to delivering excellent service to their clients with a personalized touch aligns with our approach, and we look forward to their active involvement in expanding our private client offerings in the Irish...

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Paris Trains Hit By Sabotage Hours Before Olympics Kick Off

Article 1 Comment Trains to and from Paris, including the international Eurostar service, were hit by what authorities called a “massive attack aimed at paralyzing the network” of France’s super-fast trains just hours ahead of the inauguration ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said the opening ceremony will go on as planned. “Coordinated malicious acts targeted several TGV lines last night and will seriously disrupt traffic until this weekend,” French Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete wrote in a post on the X social network. Fires were set off at three critical rail-line nodes, with people seen fleeing the sites in vans, Jean-Pierre Farandou, the head of the national rail company SNCF, said on BFM TV. The sites were chosen to have heavy consequences on the traffic, he said. The company will have to repair its network cable-by-cable, he said, adding that many trains will have to be canceled. About 800,000 passengers will be affected. SNCF couldn’t immediately say if this was the biggest disruption the train operator had ever faced, although it wasn’t able to come up with an incident that had affected more travelers over a weekend. “It’s absolutely appalling,” French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said...

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At Schwab, Donor-Advised Fund Grants Surge 31% in 2024

Schwab’s donor-advised fund arm, DAFgiving360, has reported that its donors significantly increased their giving during the 2024 fiscal year. In total, donors recommended more than $6.6 billion in grants to charity, a 31% increase from the previous year. More than 1.1 million individual grants supported 141,000 charities. Nearly 4,000 advisors worked with the organization, formerly known as Schwab Charitable, in fiscal 2024. That’s a 15% increase from the previous year. Professional advisors managed 80% of DAFgiving360’s donor account assets. About 63% of donor contributions in fiscal year 2024 were non-cash assets, such as securities and appreciated assets. “Contributing appreciated non-cash assets that have been held more than one year to a donor-advised fund can increase the amount available for charities by as much as 20% by potentially eliminating a donor’s capital gains tax liability on the assets,” DAFgiving360 said in a statement. Donors contributed to organizations in all 50 states, including 652,000 grants to support local causes in the donors’ own states.

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Uber, Lyft, DoorDash Prevail in California Gig-Worker Ruling

Article 0 Comments Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. can keep classifying California drivers as independent contractors, after the state’s top court said a company-backed law passed by voters doesn’t wrongly curtail the legislature’s power over worker protections. The unanimous ruling upholding California’s Proposition 22 was released Thursday. The favorable ruling for the gig economy companies removes what investors regarded as a major regulatory overhang. Had the judge ruled to invalidate Prop 22, the companies would have faced the threat of millions of dollars in additional cost to pay drivers if they were to be reclassified as employees, upending their business models and potentially raising user costs in one of their biggest US markets. Related: Uber Loses Challenge to California Gig Work Law in Appeals Court Shares of Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Instacart all spiked on the news. Lyft saw the biggest gain, with a 7.4% jump in share price. Justice Goodwin H. Liu in May oral arguments said the law doesn’t necessarily preclude workers from ever receiving workers’ compensation, a system to help workers injured on the job that the state legislature has constitutional power to oversee. The case was brought specifically over the constitutionality of this provision, but...

Blink Parametric launches parametric travel InsurTech solutions with Heymondo 0

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Blink Parametric launches parametric travel InsurTech solutions with Heymondo

Blink Flight Disruption solution will be offered in Spain with immediate effect Travel assistance cover to be underwritten by global insurance, reinsurance and services company – MAWDY Cork, Ireland (July 25, 2024) – Blink Parametric has launched its Flight Disruption assistance solution with the travel insurance specialist Heymondo. MAWDY, a global insurance, reinsurance and services company and part of the MAPFRE Group, will underwrite the coverage. Today’s launch with Heymondo in Spain will initially serve the company’s domestic market with the Blink Flight Disruption solution now available on Single Trip policies as an optional extra product. When a two-hour flight delay occurs to a policy-holder’s registered flight, they will be offered a choice of free access to one of 1,300+ executive airport lounges worldwide or a real-time cash payout alternative of €50 euro. Blink Parametric’s real-time assistance service integrated with the Heymondo mobile app to facilitate a seamless customer experience and ease of access to push notifications for flight delay benefits. Perry McShane, Director of Strategic Accounts, Blink Parametric, “Heymondo’s mission is to make travel insurance easy. Working together, we have combined market expertise with the latest technology to deliver a real-time assistance solution that assures customers they’re in expert...

How Will Embedded Insurance Affect Agents and Brokers? 0

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How Will Embedded Insurance Affect Agents and Brokers?

By Mark Breading, ReSource Pro — Agents and brokers are no strangers to whispers that their role may one day disappear. However, thus far, they continue to be a mainstay in insurance distribution and have successfully navigated significant industry transformation. But could the recent rise in embedded insurance solutions tip the scales? What is embedded insurance? First, let’s establish what constitutes embedded insurance. Here at ReSource Pro, we use this definition: “Insurance purchased in conjunction with a related product or service from a different provider during the same customer experience.” For example, you might purchase AppleCare along with your new iPhone or trip interruption coverage for your upcoming vacation. However, the breadth of embedded insurance solutions has grown significantly, primarily driven by technology, changing customer expectations, and carriers’ desire to expand their market reach. Remember that at its core, embedded insurance is like direct placement and partnering with agents/brokers – a distribution approach. What differentiates many embedded solutions, however, is their use of technology. APIs, artificial intelligence, and advanced data analytics help offer customers insurance solutions in places where they are already spending time. With customers seeking convenience, personalization, and a seamless experience, embedded insurance is an attractive approach for...