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Sticking with Stocks, Even in Retirement
Tweet Share on Facebook November 10, 2009 Comment (1)Retired Americans have less money in the stock market than current workers, but they didn’t abandon equities completely when they left the workforce. Two-thirds of retired investors (67 percent) continue to hold at least some equities in their portfolio, only slightly less than the 75 percent of all retirement savers who hold stocks, according to a recent Vanguard survey of 3,012 Americans between ages 21 to 79 with $5,000 or more in savings and investments. However, the oldest workers and retirees allocate less of their savings to more risky investments. For example, the average 70-something has 49 percent of their savings in equities, compared to 57 percent for those in their 30s.
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Government Insured Pension Limits Won’t Increase in 2010
Tweet Share on Facebook November 9, 2009 CommentThe maximum pension payment insured by the federal government will be $54,000 in 2010, unchanged from 2009, the agency that insures private sector pensions recently announced. Insurance amounts will not increase next year because they are indexed to Social Security benefits, which will also remain the same in 2010, according to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
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401(k) Savings Limits Stay the Same in 2010
Tweet Share on Facebook November 6, 2009 CommentThe maximum contribution limit for 401(k)s and other retirement accounts will stay the same next year, the IRS recently announced. The contribution ceiling will remain $16,500 in 2010. Workers age 50 and older will be able to make catch-up contributions of an additional $5,500 next year, also unchanged from 2009.
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For a Good Night’s Sleep, Retire
Tweet Share on Facebook November 5, 2009 CommentMany Americans lose sleep worrying about how they will pay for retirement expenses. But retirement may actually be a remedy for sleep disorders, according to a study published in the November issue of the journal SLEEP. Researchers found that the removal of work-related stress actually helped retirees sleep more soundly.
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Half of Laid-Off Workers Raid 401(k)s
Tweet Share on Facebook November 4, 2009 CommentAlmost half of laid-off workers succumbed to the temptation of spending their retirement stash last year. Some 46 percent of retirement savers who left their job in 2008 cashed out their 401(k), according to a new Hewitt Associates study of 170,000 401(k) participants who terminated employment last year. The rest kept their savings in their prior employer’s 401(k) plan (29 percent) or rolled the money over into an IRA or a new employer’s 401(k) plan (25 percent).
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Private Sector Jobs With the Best Retirement Benefits
Tweet Share on Facebook November 3, 2009 Comment (3)Private sector companies have steadily provided less retirement benefits to workers over the past decade. The value of retirement plans for employees, including traditional pensions, 401(k)s, retiree medical insurance, and post-retirement life insurance, dropped from 7.8 percent of pay in 2002 to 6.9 percent of pay in 2008, according to a Watson Wyatt analysis of 183 medium and large private sector employers over the 7-year period. About half of the decline is due to the elimination of retiree health plans at most companies. The shift from traditional pensions to 401(k)s also eroded the total value of retirement benefits.
