Page 10 - Investment Advisor March 2021

EDITOR’S NOTE

By Janet Levaux

Got GameStop?

t’s been an eventful past few weeks in the markets Meanwhile, the more bread-and-butter field of retirement
thanks to the frenzied trading of Reddit/Wall Street planning remains firmly focused on longer-term issues such as
I Bets-inspired investors who recently moved to squeeze the best age for taking Social Security benefits.
short sellers. “Claiming early can be particularly harmful for a higher
The group’s activity created a rush of investing, with over earner because it reduces income for both spouses over a
a quarter of Americans buying shares in companies that got lifetime, and harmful for a lower-earning spouse because
caught up in the scene, according to a recent Harris Poll-Yahoo he or she forgoes the ability to receive the full 50% spou-
Finance poll. This included the stocks of AMC Entertainment sal benefit,” explain Social Security experts Jason Fichtner
(35%), GameStop (33%) and and Michael Finke in this
BlackBerry (23%). We hope you enjoy this month’s cover story.
More than half of these “Only about 4% of retir-
investors, 53%, plunked month’s issue and invite you ees make the optimal Social
down $250 or less for the Security claiming decision.
viral stocks, and about 15% to check out the redesigned This results in a loss of
invested over $1,000. But ThinkAdvisor.com. Just as wealth of roughly $2.1 tril-
after the trading reached a lion for current retirees that
fever pitch, some trading you offer your clients the made a suboptimal claiming
platforms experienced out- decision,” they add.
ages, and brokerage firms best service and financial We hope you enjoy this
moved to impose restric- month’s issue and invite you
tions — such as Robinhood. solutions in the business, we’ve to check out the redesigned
As a result, much of the ThinkAdvisor.com. Just as
action soon moved from introduced the new website you offer your clients the
es and then onto Congress with a best-in-class approach. solutions in the business,
Wall Street to lawyers’ offic- best service and financial
and regulatory agencies. And we’ve introduced the new
Youtuber “Roaring Kitty” — aka MassMutual registered rep website with a best-in-class approach to its look, news focus,
Keith Gill — got caught up in the regulatory crosshairs. practical insights, industry analysis and overall user experi-
“One potential outcome: The Securities and Exchange ence. Please let us know what you think by reaching out to me
Commission could move to a T+1 settlement date for securities at [email protected].
transactions from the current T+2,” writes Washington Bureau
Chief Melanie Waddell in this month’s Playing Field column
(“Reddit GameStop Squeeze Is a Game Changer”). Security
Traders Association President Jim Toes, for instance, views
the current T+2 settlement process as “antiquated.” GROUP EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

8 INVESTMENT ADVISOR MARCH 2021 | ThinkAdvisor.com