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Baby Boomers: Still Too Scared of Stocks
Tweet Share on Facebook June 9, 2008 Comment (4)All retirement savers face this conundrum: Equity investments could lose principal during a bad year. But the interest on risk-free savings vehicles like certificates of deposit may not keep up with inflation. Most baby boomers are choosing to err on the side of caution, according to an online survey.
Many more workers age 50 plus say they understand and feel comfortable with savings vehicles like savings bonds and certificates of deposit, where there is little risk involved, than with more volatile investments like stocks and real estate, according to a Transamerica and GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media online survey of 2,015 working adults. Some 46 percent of the older adults are not very willing to put money into investments with any risk associated with them, which makes for much lower returns, Transamerica found.
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Retirement Goals Rated
Tweet Share on Facebook June 9, 2008 CommentIt's nice to dream about where you might live in retirement, all the great books you'll finally have time to read, and the new hobbies you'll pursue. But when Transamerica and GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media asked 2,015 adults over age 50 about their top priorities as they transitioned into retirement, most were concerned with just getting by. The results:
Top Retirement Goals
1. Having a steady monthly income (90 percent)
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The Presidential Candidates on Retirement
Tweet Share on Facebook June 6, 2008 Comment (2)Retirement security might not be a voting issue the way the Iraq war, healthcare, and the economy are for many people. But Darden Business School professor Ronald Wilcox, a former Securities and Exchange Commission economist and author of Whatever Happened to Thrift? Why Americans Don't Save, and What to Do About It, recently blogged about the presidential candidates positions on retirement. The highlights:
Barack Obama supports a savings-match program for lower-income Americans that would give a 50 percent match for the first $1,000 of savings to people who make less than $75,000 annually. He also proposes a federally mandated IRA plan that would require small businesses to allow employees access to a government-sponsored retirement savings plan.The savings-match program proposed by Hillary Clinton (she hasn't officially withdrawn yet) would match funds dollar-for-dollar up to $1,000 for families earning under $60,000. She's also for an "American Retirement Account" plan, which would allow all Americans to contribute up to $5,000 to an IRA on a tax-deferred basis, regardless of their employment situation.
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A New Look at Healthcare Costs in Retirement
Tweet Share on Facebook June 5, 2008 Comment (6)Health benefits for retirees are a relic of the past. Fewer than a third of current workers have any employer subsidy for retiree health insurance, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute. In the past, I've written that retired couples will need between $205,932 (Boston College Center for Retirement Research estimate) and $225,000 (Fidelity Investments estimate) to cover healthcare costs in retirement.
A new analysis by the nonpartisan EBRI puts the number for a couple currently age 65 at a staggeringly high $635,000, and that doesn't include long-term-care costs. This ultraconservative calculation is higher than the other estimates because it is designed to give the retired couple a 90 percent chance of having enough money to cover all health bills beyond what Medicare covers.
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The 10 Most Common Jobs for Older Workers
Tweet Share on Facebook June 4, 2008 Comment (44)The stereotype of the senior citizen working at Borders and Home Depot appears to be true. Retail jobs are the most common occupation for workers 65 or older, according to an Urban Institute analysis to be released later this month.
Almost 7 percent of people still working past age 65 are employed as retail sales persons or their supervisors, the Urban Institute calculated. Among the workforce as a whole, only about 5 percent of people work in retail.
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Taking a Buyout to Leave a Job You Love
Tweet Share on Facebook June 3, 2008 Comment (3)On his last day of work at the Washington Post, Stephen Fehr, 55, lovingly described his 19 years of reporting and editing as "The Only Job I Ever Wanted." Fehr and dozens of other Post journalists accepted a voluntary early retirement offer from the newspaper. The article left me wondering what goes into deciding to retire early from a job you loved. I spoke with Fehr on his first day at his new post-Post post, senior writer for the news website Stateline.org. Excerpts:
What made you decide to accept the early retirement offer?
I wasn't really planning to, but a friend of mine who I sat next to for years at the Post works at the Pew Research Center and she called and said, "If you know anyone who's taking the buyout, there's this job opening." And I said, "Well, I'm not taking it, but the only person who really might be interested is me." I thought about it overnight and called her back. I don't think I would have taken [the buyout] if I didn't have this job lined up. -
Keeping a Job for the Retirement Plan
Tweet Share on Facebook June 2, 2008 Comment (1)Instead of golfing and sailing, you could be spending your golden years clipping coupons and hitting up early-bird specials, Washington Post business columnist Martha Hamilton reports this weekend. She writes:
"There's a good chance your retirement years could be accompanied by a drastic drop in your standard of living. The reason: Traditional pensions largely have been replaced by retirement savings plans."
