RIA and IRA Advancements

Saving enough is a behavioral challenge. RIAs can educate their clients on the importance of savings and work with them to develop a behavior of regular and substantial contributions to their IRA and other savings plans like 401(k)s. As the Investopedia table above shows, this is the number one way that RIAs can help their clients. Workers are simply not saving enough, and investment returns will not bail them out. In this Working Paper the authors show that savings are far more important than asset allocation. To summarize, all cash is a fine investment strategy if you save enough. But an advisor’s job doesn’t end with education. It’s the RIA’s job to see that their clients earn a decent return and most importantly that they don’t lose their lifetime savings, as discussed in the next section. IRAs are the biggest pool of retirement assets with $8.4 trillion. They are destined to disappoint even more than 2008. RIAs can and should step up their IRA advice and guidance. “Save and protect” would help a lot.