Financial and Life Planning Resource Directory

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Money: Investments, asset management
Consumers/clients: Childhood, student years
	Butrica, Barbara A., Three Considerations for Children's Savings Accounts
		Urban Institute, November 13, 2008, Free http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411792_childrens_savings_considerations.pdf Butrica emphasizes design issues for Children's Savings Accounts that will enhance the positive impact of such accounts.
Consumers/clients: Mid-career, wealth-building
	Ameriks, John, and Utkus, Stephen P., Target-date Fund Investing: Shattering the Myths
		Vanguard Group, 2010, Free https://institutional.vanguard.com/iam/pdf/TRFCMM_042010.pdf The authors argue that what target date funds due is easy enough to emulate without them, and that their higher costs can thereby be avoided.
	Bodie, Zvi, et al, "Unsafe at Any Speed? The Designed-In Risks of Target-Date Glide Paths", Journal of Financial Planning, March 2010 (Vol. 23, No. 3)
		The authors argue that there is not yet any scientifically sound method for measuring the risk characteristics of target-date funds, and until there are, use of them itself represents a significant risk.
	Breaking the Myths: Does a Custom Target-Date Fund Really Add Value? (Vanguard)
		https://institutional.vanguard.com/VGApp/iip/site/institutional/researchcommentary/article?File=NewsBreakingMyths, Free A summary of the reasons that target date funds are often not a particularly good deal for savers for retirement.
	Characteristics of Mutual Fund Investors, 2009
		Investment Company Institute, December 2009, Free http://www.ici.org/pdf/fm-v18n8.pdf Findings include the points that most mutual fund owners are employed and have moderate household income, and that almost all mutual fund holdings are intended for retirement saving.
	Clark, Jerome, "How Much Should You Have in Equities Until Retirement?", Association of Individual Investors Journal, July 2010
		http://www.aaii.com/journal/article/how-much-should-you-have-in-equities-until-retirement, Free Clark says that reduction in equity holdings prior to retirement, to prevent the effect of large drops in value, should not begin years ahead of time, because in such cases the investor loses out anyway, by giving up asset growth during the accumulation years.
	Hirschboeck, Paul, and Peterson, Kent , Age-Based Retirement Investing: A Better Solution for Participants and Plan Sponsors in the Age of Transparency
		Securian Retirement, September 2008, Free https://advisors.securianretirementcenter.com/shared/retirementplans/pdf/F68620TA_Paper.pdf The authors explain why they believe target date funds are inadequate, compared to target-age funds.
	Investment of 401(k) and Other Retirement Plans in Target Date Type Plans (U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission), June 18, 2009
		http://www.dol.gov/dol/media/webcast/hearing/, Free Joint hearings, with webcasts of nine panels of testimony.
	Investor Bulletin: Target Date Funds
		U.S. Department of Labor, May 6, 2010, Free http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/pdf/TDFInvestorBulletin.pdf This study explains the target-date funds concept, warns potential buyers how to evaluate them, and links to general sources about retirement, investment, and mutual funds from the DoL, SEC, and FINRA
	Real Facts about Target Date Funds
		BrightScope, February 2010, Free http://www.brightscope.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/BrightScope-Real-Facts-about-Target-Date-Funds2.pdf The 401(k) rating organization, responds in a critical way to the Investment Company Institute’s defense of “six myths” about target date funds.
Consumers/clients: Late career, retirement
	Agarwal, Sumit, et al, What is the Age of Reason?
		Boston College Center for Retirement Research, July 2010, Free http://crr.bc.edu/images/stories/Briefs/ib_10-12.pdf The authors argue that older people typically are not capable of making wise decisions about the complexities of their finances, and suggest that the way out of this situation is not clear.
	Anrig, Greg, and Parekh, Millie, Impact of Housing and Investment Market Declines on the Wealth of Baby Boomers, The
		Century Foundation, August 2010, Free http://www.tcf.org/publications/economicsinequality/parekh_brief.pdf Anrig and Parekh say that the net wealth of households for people age 50+ declined by 25% from 2007 to 2009, with Baby Boomer households taking the biggest hit, and much of the losses coming from lower housing prices.
	Athavale, Manoj, and Goebel, Joseph M., "Safer Safe Withdrawal Rate Using Various Return Distributions, A", Journal of Financial Planning, Jjuly 2011 (Vol. 24, No. 7)
		Athavale and Goebel come up with statistical arguments that 2.52% is the true safe withdrawal rate in retirement.
	Basu, Somnath, "Dynamically Managing the Sequence Risk of Retirement Income", Journal of Financial Service Professionals, January 2011 (Vol. 65, No. 1)
		Basu outlines a schema that incorporates the business cycle effect within a fairly sophisticated but easy-to-understand framework for a retirement income distribution model.
	Becker, Joseph, "Understanding Inflation: Strategies to Protect Clients’ Assets", Journal of Financial Planning, June 2010 (Vol. 23, No. 6)
		Becker briefly discusses TIPs, ETFs, commodities, and REITs.
	Bridges, Ben, et al, "Assessing the Performance of Life-Cycle Portfolio Allocation Strategies for Retirement Saving: A Simulation Study", Social Security Bulletin, 2010 (Vol. 70, No. 1)
		http://www.socialsecurity.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v70n1/v70n1p23.pdf, Free The results of this study are, as to be expected, that allocations with higher percentages in equities would have performed better, on average, over most historical periods, but the risk of failure is higher as well.
	Can You Afford to Take Investment Risks?
		RetirementWorks, Inc., Free http://www.retirementworks2.com/pdfs/Can_You_Afford_to_Take_Investment_Risks-UNU.pdf Presents several important reasons why you should take significantly less investment risk during retirement than before retirement.
	Chai, Jing Jing, et al, Extending Life Cycle Models of Optimal Portfolio Choice: Integrating Flexible Work, Endogenous Retirement, and Investment Decisions with Lifetime Payouts, August 2009
		http://www.mrrc.isr.umich.edu/publications/papers/pdf/WP204.pdf, Free The authors add annuities to the customary equities/bonds investment mix, and examine the changes this enables in terms of earlier retirement dates and other factors.
	Defined Contribution Plan Distribution Choices at Retirement
		Investment Company Institute, Fall 2008, Free http://www.ici.org/statements/res/rpt_08_dcdd.pdf This study analyzes recent data and trends in what people are doing with their defined contribution plan balances when they retire.
	Half-Baked Investment Concepts for Retirees
		Still River Retirement Planning Software, Inc., June 2007, Free http://www.stillriverretire.com/Downloads/Half-Baked_Investment_Concepts_for_Retirees.pdf This paper exposes plausible but dangerous investment ideas for retirees.
	Harris, John, "Market Cycles and Safe Withdrawal Rates", Journal of Financial Planning, September 2009 (Vol. 22, No. 9)
		Harris suggests that safe withdrawal rates in retirement fall in the 2-4% range.
	Hearing on Target Date Funds and Similar Investment Options
		U.S. Department of Labor / Employee Benefit Security Administration, May 22, 2009, Free http://www.dol.gov/federalregister/HtmlDisplay.aspx?DocId=22701&AgencyId=8&DocumentType=3 Information on hearings held by the Department of Labor and the Securities and Exchange Commission on issues relating to investments in target date funds and similar investment options by 401(k) plan participants and other investors.
	Kopcke, Richard W., and Vitagliano, Francis M., Should You Convert a Traditional IRA Into a Roth IRA?
		Boston College Center for Retirement Research, March 2010, Free http://crr.bc.edu/images/stories/Briefs/ib_10-5.pdf Kopcke and Vitagliano explain the pros and cons of Roth IRA conversion based on expected future tax rates and the desire (or not) to retain assets in a tax shelter
	Lusardi, Annamaria, et al, Financial Literacy and Financial Sophistication in the Older Population
		University of Michigan Retirement Research Center, September 2009, Free http://www.mrrc.isr.umich.edu/publications/papers/pdf/wp216.pdf The authors found that people age 55+ mostly lack even a rudimentary understanding of stock and bond prices, risk diversification, portfolio choice, and investment fees; given increased individual responsibility for their retirement security, this lack of knowledge has serious implications.
	Maurer, Raymond H., et al, Effect of Uncertain Labor Income and Social Security on Life-cycle Portfolios, The
		National Bureau of Economic Research, January 2010, $5.00 http://www.nber.org/papers/w15682 The authors argue that equity investments should decline for workers approaching retirement if they have a low degree of uncertainty about retirement income, but that equity exposure should rise until retirement for people with high uncertainty about retirement income.
	Milevsky, Moshe, et al, "Retirement Income Suitability: How to Measure the Tail of a Black Swan", Journal of Financial Planning, October 2009 (Vol. 22, No.10)
		The authors have developed a measure of income sustainability that compares results under current conditions with those under extreme conditions, and that can be used to evaluate the suit-bility of results from Monte Carlo or other statistical models.
	Mitchell, John B., Modified Life Expectancy Approach to Withdrawal Rate Management, A
		Social Science Research Network, October 2010, Free http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1703948 Mitchell's model features higher withdrawals early in retirement, and lower withdrawals later on, which he says leads to less than a 0.1% chance of insolvency.
	Mitchell, John B., Withdrawal Rate Strategies for Retirement Portfolios: Preventive Reductions and Risk Management
		Social Science Research Network, October 2009, Free http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1489657 Mitchell argues for a preventive approach to managing retirement withdrawals, which adapts to adverse investment experience before the situation becomes catastrophic.
	Mulvey, Janemarie, and Purcell, Patrick , Converting Retirement Savings into Income: Annuities and Periodic Withdrawals
		Congressional Research Service, December 1, 2008, Free http://benefitslink.com/articles/guests/CRS-retirement-income-12-01-2008.pdf Mulvey and Purcell, noting that consumers do not value annuities at their actual price, calculate out how much retirees can withdraw each year from savings. They suggest an initial withdrawal of 5.0% for a 65-year-old man, 4.5% for a 65-year-old woman (for 95% assurance of solvency to age 95).
	"Guidance for Sustaining Retirement Income Before and After Market Downturns"
		Principal Financial Group, October 2009, Free https://secure02.principal.com/publicvsupply/GetFile?fm=PQ10029&ty=VOP&EXT=.VOP This paper aims to provide financial professionals with insight as to when and how to deal with market volatility for clients just entering, or already in, retirement. It presents guidelines as to when action is needed, and offers some alternative strategies to sustain retirement income.
	Pang, Gaobo and Warshawsky, Mark J., "Comparing Strategies for Retirement Wealth Management: Mutual Funds and Annuities", Journal of Financial Planning, August 2009 (Vol. 22, No. 8)
		After reviewing six alternative strategies involving annuities, mutual funds, or a combination, the authors find that no one strategy dominates, so they suggest segmenting assets and adopting multiple strategies, while taking account of pension and Social Security income.
	Pfau, Wade D., "International Perspective on Safe Withdrawal Rates, An: The Demise of the 4 Percent Rule?", Journal of Financial Planning, December 2010 (Vol. 23, No. 12)
		Pfau points out that studies of withdrawal rates have all been based on U.S. stock market data which, he argues, has been atypical over its recent history. His study looks at data from other developed countries, which in most cases produce lower results.
	Piercing the Monte Carlo Mystique in Retirement Income Planning
		Still River Retirement Planning Software, Inc., April 2008, Free http://www.stillriverretire.com/Downloads/Piercing_the_Monte_Carlo_Mystique.pdf This paper explains why the sophisticated models often used to tell you how much you can safely withdraw from retirement savings are not actually up to the task and in fact are quite dangerous for your financial health.
	Portrait of Older Underbanked and Un-banked Consumers, A: Findings from a National Survey
		AARP, September 2010, Free http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/ppi/econ-sec/underbank-economic-full-092110.pdf AARP investigates why some older people avoid banks, what they do instead, and what public policy changes might be helpful.
	Pye, Gordon B., "Effect of Emergencies on Retirement Savings and Withdrawals, The", Journal of Financial Planning, November 2010 (Vol. 23, No. 11)
		Pye concludes that if allowance is made for two or three serious cash emergencies during retirement, the sustainable withdrawal rate falls from about 4 percent to about 3 percent.
	Retirement Income: Challenges for Ensuring Income throughout Retirement (U.S. General Accounting Office), April 28, 2010
		http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d10632r.pdf, Free In this letter to Senate Special Committee on Aging Chairman Herb Kohl, Jeszeck emphasizes that accumulating assets is not enough, that prudent management of assets is essential, because for many people there is little margin for error.
	"Investment Quarterly", 2nd Quarter 2011 (Vol. 17, No. 2)
		Schultz, Collins, Lawson, Chambers, Free http://www.schultzcollins.com/files/IQ%20Q2%202011.pdf Thi issue provides history and criticism of the 4% retirement withdrawal rule of thumb. They note that investors rightly distrust such models, finding them an indication of intellectual laziness, and a failure to recognize that an actual investor is not the same as an average investor.
	"Target-Date Retirement Funds: A Lifelong Investment Solution for Defined Contribution Plans", September 2006
		http://www.watsonwyatt.com/research/whitepapers/wprender.asp?id=WITD_11_2006 This paper urges caution with lifestyle funds. Funds that appear identical from the outside may have very different investment strategies and outcomes, and some of them may incorporate more risk than retirees want.
	Van Harlow, W., Optimal Asset Allocation in Retirement: A Downside Risk Perspective
		Putnam Institute, June 2011, Free https://content.putnam.com/literature/pdf/PI001.pdf Van Harlow argues that the allocation to equities for retirees should be in the 5-25% range, which is much less than is customarily recommended.
	Webb, Anthony, Case for Investing in Bonds During Retirement, The
		Boston College Center for Retirement Research, August 2009, Free http://crr.bc.edu/images/stories/Briefs/ib_9-17.pdf Webb argues that for retired households seeking a secure and dependable income, the true risk-free asset is a portfolio of bonds, particularly inflation protected bonds.
	Will Retirement Assets Last a Lifetime?
		Society of Actuaries (SOA), LIMRA, and the International Foundation for Retirement Education (InFRE), 2009, Free http://www.soa.org/files/pdf/research-pen-assets-lifetime.pdf This quantitative research study was conducted to better understand how retired individuals with investable assets make decisions about investing their assets and buying financial products.
	Yogo, Motohiro, Portfolio Choice in Retirement: Health Risk and the Demand for Annuities, Housing and Risky Assets
		Boston College Center for Retirement Research, January 2009, Free http://crr.bc.edu/images/stories/Working_Papers/wp_2009-3.pdf Yogo presents a consumption and portfolio-choice model of a retiree who allocates wealth among four assets: a riskless bond, a risky asset, a real annuity, and housing.
Consumers/clients: Aging
	Mikels, Joseph A., and Reed, Andrew E., "Monetary Losses Do Not Loom Large in Later Life: Age Differences in the Framing Effect", Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sci-ences, July 2009 (Vol. 64B, No. 4)
		http://psychsocgerontology.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/64B/4/457 Mikels and Reed report that older people do not show the same discrepancy that younger ones do when risk tolerance toward potential losses is compared to risk tolerance toward potential gains.
	Wilcox, Bradley J., et al, "Secrets of Healthy Aging and Longevity From Exceptional Survivors Around the Globe: Lessons From Octogenarians to Supercentenarians", Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, December 2008
		Results and analysis of a survey of healthy aged people.
Consumers/clients: Other / general / not specified
	Abey, Arun, "How Much Is Enough?", The Integrative Adviser, June 2009 (Vol. 2, No. 2)
		http://www.aiflp.org/pdfs/IntegrativeAdviserNo0202.pdf, Free Abey presents a summary version of the issues discussed in his book.
	Calvet, Laurent E., et al , Measuring the Financial Sophistication of Households
		National Bureau of Economic Research Working Papers, February 2009, $5.00 http://papers.nber.org/papers/w14699 The authors construct an index of financial sophistication that explains a set of three investment mistakes: underdiversification, risky share inertia, and the tendency to sell winning stocks and hold losing stocks.
	Chieffe, Natalie, and Lahey, Karen Eilers , "Helping Clients Select SRI Mutual Funds and Firms", Journal of Financial Planning, February 2009 (Vol. 22, No. 2)
		Chieffe and Lahey cite research showing that social responsible investing does not need to lead to lower returns. They suggest strategies for socially responsible investing.
	Conservative Investment Strategies and Financial Instruments
		RetirementWorks, Inc., 2009, Free http://www.retirementworks2.com/pdfs/Conservative_Investment_Strategies_and_Instruments-UNH.pdf Summarizes the options for conservative saving and investment vehicles, giving the pros and cons of each, along with general strategies.
	Eldred, Gary W., Investing in Real Estate
		Wiley, 2009, $19.95 http://www.amazon.com/Investing-Real-Estate-Gary-Eldred/dp/0470499265/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280259142&sr=1-3 Having been though multiple editions, this is now a standad book on the subject of real estate investing.
	Grable, John E., "RiskCAT: A Framework for Identifying Maximum Risk Thresholds in Personal Portfolios", Journal of Financial Planning, October 2008
		Grable offers an answer to the question of how risk tolerance, risk capacity, and time horizon can be integrated to create a diversified investment portfolio.
	Holton, Lisa, "Was Markowitz Wrong?", Journal of Financial Planning, January 2009 (Vol. 22, No. 1)
		Holton and a panel of advisors discuss ways in which the 2008-2009 economic downturn raises questions about traditional asset allocation and retirement income models.
	Lennick, Doug, and Jordan, Kathy, "Money on Your Mind: The Brain’s Role in Financial Decision-Making", Journal of Financial Planning, April 2010 (Vol. 23, No. 4)
		The authors explore the ways in which the human psyche is typically wired to affect financial decision-making, often in adverse ways that are exacerbated by modern technology.
	Lin, Wayne, Risk {Re}considered: New Approaches in the Black Swan’s Wake
		Legg Mason Global Asset Management, 2010, Free http://www.investmentnews.com/assets/docs/CI7088891.PDF Lin offers a strategy for determining how to allocate investments to avoid catastrophe when unexpectedly bad investment environments arise.
	Liu, Zheng, and Spiegel, Mark M., "Boomer Retirement: Headwinds for U.S. Equity Markets?", Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Economic Letter, August 22, 2011
		http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2011/el2011-26.pdf Liu and Spiegel note that the ratio of middle age people to older people correlates well with broad, long-term stock market movements, and suggest that Baby Boomer retirements could be a drag on the market over the next two decades.
	Maurer, Raymond H., et al, Optimal Life-Cycle Strategies in the Presence of Interest Rate and Inflation Risk
		Pension Research Council, 2008 http://www.pensionresearchcouncil.org/publications/document.php?file=406 The authors confirm that common life cycle investment strategies are fundamentally sound, but highlight the critical importance of accurately determining the investor’s risk tolerance.
	McCarthy, Ed, "Time for Another Look at Client Risk Tolerance?", Journal of Financial Planning, February 2009 (Vol. 22, No. 2)
		Clearly the answer to the title question is yes for McCarthy, and he describes various approaches that can be taken.
	Profile of Mutual Fund Shareholders, 2008
		Investment Company Institute, Winter 2009, Free http://www.ici.org/statements/res/rpt_profile09.pdf This report contains detailed demographic and attitudinal information about mutual fund owners.
	REIClub.com
		http://reiclub.com/, Free A website about real estate investment that is packed with general information, news, and links to outside resources, that can also connect you with hundreds of local clubs across the country.