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401(k) Losses Linger for Young People
Tweet Share on Facebook March 31, 2010 Comment (5)The baby boomer's stock market losses have certainly impaired their ability to retire comfortably. New research suggests that younger people may be even more adversely affected by the stock market drop because they didn’t benefit from earlier bull markets in the 1980s and 90s as fully at the oldest baby boomers did.
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Launching a Second Career Instead of Retiring
Tweet Share on Facebook March 29, 2010 Comment (2)Starr and Cody Buck, a 50-something married couple in Lubbock, Texas, started a second career together as registered nurses in January. Cody, 58, was a chief lending officer for a bank until the company was sold in 2007. Starr, 53, ran her own child care business, which she enjoyed. But Starr was looking for a change of pace from the regulations and licensing requirements necessary to run the business and constantly competing with other child care providers.
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Fewer Workers Enrolled in 401(k)s
Tweet Share on Facebook March 26, 2010 CommentThe decline of traditional pensions and rise of 401(k) and profit-sharing retirement plans continued in 2009. There was a net loss of 50 traditional pensions and a net gain of 84 defined contribution plans in fiscal year 2009, according to Internal Revenue Service data released this month. However, fewer workers participated in both types of retirement plans.
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Fidelity: Couples Need $250,000 for Retirement Health Costs
Tweet Share on Facebook March 25, 2010 Comment (12)A 65-year-old couple retiring this year will need $250,000 to pay for medical expenses throughout retirement, according to Fidelity Investments calculations released today. This figure is up 4.2 percent from last year’s estimate of $240,000. Fidelity attributes this rise in expected retiree health expenses to increasing costs for medical services such as doctor’s visits and diagnostic tests, the higher prices associated with new technology, and general price inflation.
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Increased Longevity Creates Challenges for Retirees
Tweet Share on Facebook March 24, 2010 Comment (3)It’s well known that the life expectancy of citizens in developed countries has increased dramatically over the past century. This longer and healthier lifespan creates challenges for people aiming to save enough to fund their own retirement.
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New Medicare Online Application Launched
Tweet Share on Facebook March 23, 2010 CommentSeniors can sign up for Medicare benefits online beginning today. The new application is for retirees who wish to claim their Medicare benefits before signing up for Social Security.
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30 Fast-Growing Careers for Older Workers
Tweet Share on Facebook March 22, 2010 Comment (84)Many seniors are going to need to continue to work to finance their retirement years. A new report predicts which industries will be the most likely to create new jobs and hire older workers. Most of the job growth will be in what Northeastern University researchers Barry Bluestone and Mark Melnik are calling the “social sector”, which includes health care, education, government, and social assistance jobs. The analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census Bureau data estimates that 7 million new jobs will be added to the social sector between now and 2018, and that 5.9 million of the positions will be well suited for older workers.
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More Extended Families Living Together
Tweet Share on Facebook March 19, 2010 Comment (1)The dismal economy has changed American attitudes about living with their extended family. A record 49 million Americans - or about 16 percent of the total U.S. population - lived in a household with two or more adult generations in 2008, up 2.6 million from 2007, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of census data. Here is a look at why families are increasingly moving into these multigenerational households.
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3 Jobs with Generous Retirement Benefits
Tweet Share on Facebook March 18, 2010 Comment (4)Employer contributions to 401(k)s and pensions can have a huge impact on your ability to retire. But there’s no standard amount that companies pay their workers for retirement benefits. 401(k) and pension contributions at private sector companies ranged from $4.22 an hour in the utilities industry to just 9 cents an hour for food service workers in 2009, according to recently released Bureau of Labor Statistics data. While private firms spent an average of $27.42 per hour for total employee compensation in December 2009, just 92 cents of that typically went toward voluntary retirement benefits. Companies generally spent far more on legally required retirement benefits, including Social Security and Medicare, averaging $1.63 an hour. Here is a look at which types of jobs tend to provide the highest retirement benefits.
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Who Should Convert an IRA to a Roth IRA
Tweet Share on Facebook March 17, 2010 CommentBeginning this year all workers have the option to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. In previous years conversions were restricted to employees who earned less than $100,000 annually. The removal of the income restriction has increased interest in this financial maneuver. Seven times more Vanguard IRA participants converted to a Roth IRA in January 2010 than in 2009.
