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Pension systems are a central component of the compensation package for workers in virtually every developed nation, and nowhere are they more important than for public sector employees. The growth of public pensions has spurred a hot debate of late, since some private sector employees envy their public sector counterparts the relatively generous benefits negotiated by strong unions that traditionally represent civil servants. Also some politicians had argued that pension and health-care benefits paid to police and firefighters, schoolteachers, and other civil servants have become too expensive for the public purse, especially when benefits have been cut in the private sector And the costs of maintaining public sector pension plans have come under the microscope of late, as municipalities, states, and other governmental units facing difficult financial times and volatile capital markets realize they must cut corners. This volume takes up these and other themes pertinent to the future of public employee retirement systems around the world.

The EU has for a long time strived to harmonize the financial disclosure of companies headquartered in the EU member states. However, financial reporting in these states continues to differ, reflecting the ongoing role of national accounting traditions and regulatory structures. This chapter surveys both the areas where rules have been harmonized and those where national differences remain. The discussion highlights many of the issues that likely to arise in efforts to achieve harmonized rules on a global scale.

Relatively little is known about why people fail to plan for retirement and whether planning and information costs might affect retirement saving patterns. This chapter reports on a purpose-built survey module on planning and financial literacy for the Health and Retirement Study which measures how people make financial plans, collect the information needed to make these plans, and implement the plans. We show that financial illiteracy is widespread among older Americans, particularly women, minorities, and the least educated. We also find that the financially savvy are more likely to plan and to succeed in their planning, and they rely on formal methods such as retirement calculators, retirement seminars, and financial experts, instead of family/relatives or co-workers. These results have implications for targeted financial education efforts.

The mean‐variance paradigm has the strong implication that all investors should hold risky assets in the same proportion. Financial planners typically advise conservative investors to tilt their risky portfolios towards bonds and away from stocks; this has been called the “asset allocation puzzle” since it contradicts standard mean‐variance analysis. Financial planners also argue that long‐term investors can afford greater exposure to stock market risk. This book will show how financial planners’ advice can be justified by an inter‐temporal model of a rational investor. The model ignores some important real‐world issues, including diversification of individual stocks, transactions costs, taxation, and the biases identified by research in behavioural finance.

To illustrate how advisors explain risk to clients, we map our view of current advisory practice, with particular emphasis on risk management, to our view of the current mosaic of planning paradigms. We then apply that information to identify questions for further discussion and research. We conclude there has been an evolution in advisory practice from a focus on product, to policy, and now increasingly to process, with communication about risk remaining central throughout.

The financial advice profession provides a potentially valuable service to consumers within an increasingly complex financial marketplace. Financial advice professionals can substitute for costly investment in financial knowledge by households. This chapter provides evidence that financial advisers can improve financial outcomes when the interests of the advisor and household are aligned. Yet professional advice can harm consumers if conflicts of interest create high agency costs. Understanding how differences in compensation methods and regulatory frameworks affect incentives is essential to improving the breadth and quality of professional advice.

This chapter discusses personal financial planning, which is an interdisciplinary practice that employs a six-step process to develop integrated strategies for individuals and families to efficiently mobilize their human and financial capital to achieve their life goals. Financial planning draws from various disciplines, including counseling, psychology, finance, economics, and law. It includes budgeting and cash flow planning, risk management, insurance planning, investment planning, retirement and employee benefits planning, tax planning, and estate planning. The strategic process whereby financial planners develop integrated strategies that draw from all these fields in pursuit of client goals is the profession’s unique domain. Heuristics and mental biases to which clients may be prone overlay the entire financial planning process, however. Financial planners should understand and consider these issues when developing recommendations uniquely suited to each client, maximizing the probability that the client will embrace and implement the recommended strategies.

Elder financial victimization is a growing problem facing older Americans. As the conduits of financial transactions, financial firms are positioned to stop losses at their source. Representatives at small and large firms were interviewed to describe their financial exploitation training and prevention programs, their detection and response protocols, and how they balance the goals of client protection with the client’s right to autonomy and privacy in financial decision making. Representatives from regulatory agencies were interviewed to describe the interventions firms are authorized to engage in, the legal barriers they face, and recent rule change proposals that may overcome some of these barriers.

As an area of behavioral finance, estate planning is less focused on systematic, cognitive errors than on a core, emotional ambivalence about mortality. The chapter explores the dynamics of the advisor–client relationship in financial planning and estate planning, as well as the emotional conflicts concerning mortality in light of research about mortality salience and terror management theory. The inclusion of marital, family, and family business issues introduces inherent complications to efforts at planning. These added dimensions may in turn affect succession planning, inheritance, heir preparation, and family dynamics. Recent developments in assessing financial style and personality may enhance progress in estate planning. Tools for facilitating the process are discussed, along with observations for further development in the field. Models in other areas of psychotherapy practice show potential to inform this area of practice.

The business plan, in the field of music, can become the musician's road map. However, because of inconsistency in a career in music, music professionals find it hard to draft a business plan. This chapter discusses the notion of having a “business plan” for a career in music. It includes structuring a typical format for a business model while keeping in mind that plans vary from one person to another. It then identifies the various parts of the “business plan.” Business plans begin with a mission statement. This should be followed by affirmation of one's legal identity. Finally, the plan needs to the services offered. Business plans can also be supplemented with the use of financial plans, marketing strategies, and management teams. Questions are also provided at the end of every subtopic of the chapter.

This chapter investigates the role of annuities in the financial-planning process, including both the normative judgment about what role annuities “should” play (as guided by economic theory), as well as empirical evidence about the role that they actually do play. It describes several working hypotheses about behavioral biases that may affect annuity demand. The economic literature presents a strong theoretical foundation for the normative conclusion that annuities ought to be of substantial value to retirees. Simulation work reveals that under a specific process for inflation, a moderately risk-averse consumer would find nominal annuities less attractive than inflation-indexed annuities. The Pension Protection Act took significant steps to encourage the use of default options in the accumulation phase of 401(k) plans. It is noted that the economics and psychology of the annuitization decision remain a very fruitful area for additional research.

This introductory chapter first sets out the book’s purpose, which is to expand our knowledge of multinational finance and tax research by exploring multinational financial structures, especially with respect to leverage and so-called “indirect financing structures.” The book spells out in more detail how different types of multinational financial planning and tax policy affect the choice of financing structures. It not only discusses these ideas in theory but also tests empirically effects on financial and ownership structures, using a unique data set (MiDi) on German multinationals provided by the Deutsche Bundesbank in Frankfurt. The chapter also discusses multinational direct and indirect financial structures and the role of conduit holding companies, followed by an overview of the subsequent chapters.

Chapter 4 focuses on soft law’s second-order consequences for rising regulatory powers. One of the key puzzles in the international regulation of finance is the persistence of cooperation even as the number of economic great powers increases. The emergence of the European Union as a financial rule-maker in the late 1990s and early 2000s, roughly on par with the United States, resulted in a transatlantic alignment of regulatory approaches, not conflict over the fundamentals. This chapter demonstrates how soft law was used by reform-minded factions in Europe to legitimize their claims and tip in their favor political contests over the modernization of internal regulation. International soft law served as a mechanism of endogenous change, helping to foster a great power preference alignment along market-friendly paths and setting the stage for the financial crisis.

Please be aware that I am not an attorney and the following information should not be considered legal advice. The information contained in this chapter is what I have learned as a parent of a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and as a doctor trying to help those with ASD navigate complex legal and financial decisions. I recommend all parents of children with ASD develop a relationship with a licensed attorney with experience in special needs in their jurisdiction. As this chapter details, there are many different legal issues you and your child may encounter as your child matures into adulthood. Having an attorney who is familiar with your specific situation and your child can be very reassuring should legal needs arise. If you have the financial capacity to place some funds in a retainer with an attorney so that they are available any time you need for a quick e-mail, phone call, or text message, it is often worth the expense and peace of mind. Parents can usually locate attorneys with experience in special needs by contacting their local bar associations, many of which maintain formal referral programs. Also, many autism support groups maintain lists of attorneys who specialize in various aspects of the law relevant to children with ASD. Your child’s medical providers may also be able to provide referrals. If you are like most parents of a child with ASD, you are over­whelmed with even the thought of long-term planning. You are likely thinking, “It is hard enough making it day by day, let alone considering long-term planning.” The truth is that most of us avoid thinking of the future because it is too frightening and uncertain. There is also little guidance from healthcare professionals on this very complex issue. However, much relief can be found in achieving a plan for your child’s future. Do not wait. It is important to talk with a financial planner when your child is young.

This chapter suggests ways a nonprofit children’s choir or youth choir organization can successfully navigate the financial world. When a new choir is established, artistic planning should be accompanied by responsible financial planning while a solid financial structure is necessary to sustain it. Managing balance sheets, revenue streams, grant writings, audits, and annual budgets is important in securing a strong financial structure for the choral organization. The founding director will likely have a good understanding of what specific resources will be needed because he knows what the vision will be for the choir.

The diverse investment opportunities available in the debt market enable both individual and institutional investors to develop effective passive and active strategies for financial planning and portfolio management. Such strategies suggest a set of purchases, redemptions, and liquidations to meet investor objectives that consider such factors as market risk, expected investment returns, cash flows, liquidity, and investor convenience. Investment strategies can inoculate the portfolio against potential adverse markets events such as wide fluctuations in interest rates or can be executed in anticipation of an event affecting future market conditions such as an announcement by the Federal Reserve or the default of a municipality. This chapter presents different scenarios in which an investor would employ some appropriate strategies involving bonds or other debt-based securities.

This chapter discusses the steps in establishing a choir. These include plan development, rehearsal location, financial planning, events timeline setting, and collaboration. It is important to have a vision of who the singers will be, where and what they will sing, and a concept of the ideal choral sound. It is significant to know why the choir exists, to plan how to sustain it, and to strive for excellence. Starting or expanding an existing choral program is a collaborative effort among the staff, parents, board, and community.