Week's Best: Why Age 60 Is a Wake-Up Call for Retirement Savers — Barrons.com

By Barron's Advisor StaffSuccessful investors often reach age 60 with plenty of money saved but no strategy for spending, paying taxes, and claiming Social Security. This milestone birthday is often when retirement gets close enough for savers to have an "Aha!" moment: "We have assets, but we don't have a plan," writes retirement coach and columnist David Conti. For advisors, prospecting among do-it-yourself investors at this age makes sense.Among other most-read articles:In-kind crypto conversions are booming for BlackRock. Large-scale Bitcoin holders are increasingly looking to convert their directly held assets into shares of exchange-traded funds that track the digital currency. Regulators only granted approval for in-kind crypto conversions last year, but already BlackRock, which operates the largest Bitcoin ETF, has seen billions of dollars in transaction volume. Hacks at crypto exchanges may be fueling the business for the asset management giant as investors seek to protect their assets.Bank of America's retail chief says U.S. consumer is A-OK. As head of the retail bank at Bank of America, Holly O'Neill has her finger on the pulse of the U.S. consumer. Barron's spoke with her shortly after the bank's recent earnings announcement to learn about the financial health of consumers and hear highlights from the quarterly results. She also talked about her 30-year career at the bank and what's next for financial innovation.Investment pros share AI strategy. The artificial-intelligence trade has faced brisk headwinds in recent months as investors have started to weigh the enormous, debt-funded cost of the AI buildout and the murky profit outlook. The blue-tsunami election outcome amplified investor concerns while the ouster of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has raised other concerns. For this week's Barron's Advisor Big Q, we asked investment advisors: What is your outlook for AI stocks now, and how are you investing in the space for client portfolios?Fix coming for teachers', nurses' retirement plans. The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a measure that would expand the investment options available to 403(b) plans sponsored by tax-exempt organizations, bringing them more in line with 401(k) plans and other workplace retirement plans. The Retirement Fairness for Charities and Educational Institutions Act cleared the lower chamber by a vote of 295 to 128. The bill would allow nonprofit retirement funds structured as 403(b) plans to include collective investment trusts.Anthropic allots up to 20% of its IPO for retail. Artificial-intelligence company Anthropic intends to set aside a hefty number of shares for individual investors when it goes public next week. According to its updated Form S-1, Anthropic plans to allocate up to 20% of its shares to retail investors in the U.S. and other countries. The company is taking a similar approach as SpaceX by opening the door for regular investors to participate in a process once only available to institutions and very wealthy clients of the underwriters.Write to [email protected] content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.