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401(k) Matches May Return Soon
Tweet Share on Facebook August 17, 2009 Comment (1)For the 401(k) matchless, finally a reason for optimism: Employer contributions to retirement accounts may soon make reappearance. Almost a quarter (24 percent) of employers that eliminated their 401(k) or 403(b) contributions plan to reinstate them within the next 6 months, up significantly from 5 percent of companies in June, according to a recent Watson Wyatt survey of human resources executives at 175 U.S. companies. Another 40 percent of employers plan to resume 401(k) matches within 18 months.
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Woodstock’s Influence 40 Years Later
Tweet Share on Facebook August 14, 2009 Comment (12)The influence of Woodstock, an upstate N.Y. music festival that took place 40 years ago this weekend, is still being discussed. About 70 percent of Americans age 16 and over remember learning about the 1969 concert in Bethel, N.Y., or have at least heard about it, according to a recent Pew Research telephone survey. But not everyone remembers it the same way, calling the concert everything from “a peace festival that was supposed to bring unity and togetherness” to “a hippie drug-fest.” The Pew Research survey suggests that the historic 3-day concert may have played a role in ushering the baby boomer’s musical preferences into the mainstream.
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Fidelity: 401(k)s are Beginning to Recover
Tweet Share on Facebook August 12, 2009 Comment (1)The average Fidelity 401(k) account balance rose 13.5 percent in the second quarter to $53,900. The increase, driven primarily by stock market gains but also due to new worker and employer contributions, follows a 27 percent drop in the average account balance from $69,200 in 2007 to $50,200 in 2008.
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Older Worker Unemployment Falls
Tweet Share on Facebook August 11, 2009 Comment (4)For Americans searching for jobs after age 50, finally some hope. The unemployment rate for those age 55 and over decreased from 7 percent in June to 6.7 percent in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s well below the overall unemployment rate of 9.4 percent in July and represents a decrease of approximately 83,000 unemployed older workers since June.
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Still Working After Age 100
Tweet Share on Facebook August 10, 2009 Comment (4)Many baby boomers are going to need to work during the traditional retirement years because they haven’t saved enough. But some seniors work long after their colleagues have exited the workforce simply because they enjoy going to the office each day.
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What Do Retirees Do All Day?
Tweet Share on Facebook August 7, 2009 Comment (12)The typical employed person spends 7.6 hours at work each day. When you finally make your exit from the workforce those extra hours can be filled however you wish. Most retirees spend their newfound freedom lingering slightly longer than the total population over food, sleep, and household chores. Americans age 65 to 74 only spend about 2 extra hours per day on leisure activities than the population as a whole, according to the Department of Labor’s American Time Use Survey. Seniors spend most of their additional 2 hours of leisure time watching TV, socializing, and reading. Here’s what the typical retiree’s day looks like compared to the rest of us.
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Retirees Consider Returning to Work
Tweet Share on Facebook August 6, 2009 Comment (3)When many people retire, they don’t plan to give up work forever. Some people who leave the workforce plan to accept a new job if the correct opportunity arises. A new Longevity Alliance and Harris Interactive poll released today found that 43 percent of retirees seriously considered the possibility of going back to work when they first retired.
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Knowing When to Accept an Early Retirement Incentive
Tweet Share on Facebook August 5, 2009 CommentFinancially struggling companies sometimes try to entice workers to give up their jobs with buyout and early retirement incentive packages. About 6,000 General Motors employees accepted buyout offers this month. Yet, it can be difficult to know when to take early retirement and when to try to hold on to your job. A cash bonus certainly sounds appealing at first glance. But retirees can come out behind if their pension payments will be reduced or they lose employer-subsidized healthcare.
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Workers with Pensions Save More in 401(k)
Tweet Share on Facebook August 4, 2009 CommentWorkers with a traditional pension can generally get by saving less for retirement because they have a guaranteed stream of income above what Social Security provides. But employees with both a 401(k) and a traditional pension actually save more in their 401(k)s than workers with only a 401(k) or similar retirement plan. In 2007, the median balance in a 401(k) or similar retirement plan for families with a pension and a 401(k) was $56,000, while the median balance was $25,000 for families with only a 401(k)-type plan, according to the Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Consumer Finances.
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Labor Department Awards $10 Million to Retrain Older Workers
Tweet Share on Facebook August 3, 2009 Comment (181)The U.S. Department of Labor awarded $10 million to organizations that connect older workers to jobs last week. The money is designated to retrain workers age 55 and older for jobs in high-growth industries such as healthcare and green jobs. The 10 grants worth approximately $1 million each were given to organizations in Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. The Atlantic Philanthropies will also invest another $3.6 million in this effort.
