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401(k) Wish List
Tweet Share on Facebook May 17, 2010 Comment (1)Most retirement savers think their 401(k) could use a few improvements. Employees would like all companies to offer retirement accounts and would appreciate more advice about how to save and invest for retirement, according to a recent ING U.S. Retirement Services and Ipsos Public Affairs telephone survey of 1,000 adults. Here’s what is on the 401(k) wish list.
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Older Unemployed Remain Out of Work Longer
Tweet Share on Facebook May 14, 2010 Comment (3)Older workers are less likely to be involuntary out of work than their younger counterparts. The unemployment rate for those age 55 and older was 7 percent in April, well below the 9.9 percent of all Americans who are out of work. However, when older workers lose their job they have more difficulty finding a new one than younger workers.
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Few Seniors Get Retirement Income Guarantees
Tweet Share on Facebook May 13, 2010 Comment (1)Most retirees don’t have a reliable source of income in retirement other than Social Security. Less than a quarter (24 percent) of men and 18 percent of women received any type of regular pension or annuity income in 2008, according to a new Employee Benefit Research Institute analysis of Census Bureau data.
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Study: Healthy Retirees Have Higher Medical Costs
Tweet Share on Facebook May 12, 2010 CommentPeople who enter retirement in good health are likely to pay more for medical expenses throughout the rest of their life than those who retire after developing a chronic condition, according to a counterintuitive Center for Retirement Research at Boston College report released yesterday. While couples who retire without any chronic conditions have lower initial health care costs, they may also live longer than average and go on to incur greater health care costs over their lifetime, the study found.
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5 Questions to Ask About Your Target-Date Fund
Tweet Share on Facebook May 10, 2010 Comment (1)Target-date funds are the cruise control of retirement investing. All you have to do is pick a fund and the fund manager makes all the decisions about how much to allocate to stocks, bonds, and cash throughout your entire lifetime. Some retirement savers don’t even need to actively pick the fund. Target-date funds are one of the most popular 401(k) default investments that employees are automatically enrolled in unless they specifically opt out.
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6 Reasons More Americans are Delaying Retirement
Tweet Share on Facebook May 7, 2010 Comment (5)Early retirement is no longer the goal of most workers. Even retirement at age 65 now seems unattainable to many people. The majority of Americans now expect to work until age 65 or later.
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3 Ways Retirees Can Guarantee Income for Life
Tweet Share on Facebook May 6, 2010 Comment (6)Many Americans approaching retirement are concerned that their savings won’t last the rest of their life. The risk that seniors will outlive their assets has heightened as longevity continues to increase. Couples, both currently age 62, have a 47 percent chance that at least one of them will live to age 90 or older. Life expectancy at age 65 has risen by about 2 years for women and nearly 4 years for men since 1970. Americans interested in guaranteeing that their money will last as long as they do have several options. A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report outlines three ways to make sure you have income that lasts the rest of your life. Here are your options for securing lifetime income.
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Obama: $5 Billion for Retiree Health Benefits
Tweet Share on Facebook May 5, 2010 Comment (5)Companies will get $5 billion from the federal government to maintain health care coverage for early retirees, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced yesterday. The Early Retiree Reinsurance Program, created by the health reform bill, aims to subsidize employers that provide health insurance to retirees age 55 and older who are not yet eligible for Medicare and their spouses, surviving spouses, and dependents.
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Employers: 401(k)s Won’t Fully Fund Worker Retirement
Tweet Share on Facebook May 4, 2010 CommentEmployers generally offer 401(k)s to attract and retain productive workers, not to propel those employees into a secure retirement. The majority of companies (51 percent) offer a 401(k) to keep high performing employees happy, according to a recent Wells Fargo and Boston Research survey of 357 employers. Less than half (45 percent) of the firms say their benefit programs primarily aim to help workers achieve a financially sound retirement.
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3 Easy Ways to Meet Retirement Savings Goals
Tweet Share on Facebook May 3, 2010 Comment (2)It’s well known that most employees aren’t on track to maintain their current standard of living in retirement. The typical U.S. employee will need to accumulate 15 times his or her final pay using a combination of Social Security, pensions, retirement accounts, and other savings in order to retire comfortably, according to Hewitt Associates calculations released today. That number jumps to 15.7 times final pay when inflation and retiree medical costs are factored in.
