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Workers Paying Hidden 401(k) Fees
Tweet Share on Facebook April 29, 2011 Comment (1)Most workers don’t know that they are paying 401(k) fees. Less than a quarter of current employees (23 percent) say 401(k) fees are deducted from their account, while 71 percent report that they do not pay any fees, according to a new AARP survey of 803 401(k) participants age 25 and older conducted by Woelfel Research. Another 6 percent of the survey respondents say they don’t know whether they pay any fees.
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Social Security Ends Paper Checks
Tweet Share on Facebook April 27, 2011 Comment (13)Baby boomers who sign up for Social Security benefits on or after May 1, 2011 will no longer have the option of receiving a paper check in the mail. Individuals newly applying for Social Security or other federal benefits will need to choose an electronic payment method beginning next week. Retirees already receiving their payments by paper check have until March 1, 2013 to switch to direct deposit.
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The New Ideal Retirement Age
Tweet Share on Facebook April 26, 2011 Comment (1)A decade ago many people strived to retire young. Now most people are nudging back their retirement date and wondering if they will be able to retire at all. The age workers expect to retire has increased from an average of 60 in 1995 to 66 today, according to a new Gallup poll of 1,077 adults.
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Strong Opposition to Medicare Changes
Tweet Share on Facebook April 22, 2011 Comment (3)Most voters support only modest changes to Medicare. Several recent surveys have found that Americans don’t want to see major cuts to the government health insurance program for retirees.
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How to Tell if You Are Wealthy
Tweet Share on Facebook April 21, 2011 CommentMany Americans with a net worth of over several million dollars don’t consider themselves wealthy. A recent survey of 457 individuals with liquid assets of $3 million or more found that 40 percent don’t perceive themselves to be wealthy. Among those who do feel wealthy, here’s what convinced them that they are affluent.
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Is Homeownership the Best Long-Term Investment?
Tweet Share on Facebook April 20, 2011 Comment (5)Most adults (81 percent) agree that buying a home is the best long-term investment a person can make, according a Pew Research Center survey of 2,142 adults released this month. But confidence in homeownership as a path to prosperity is declining. The number of people who strongly agree that homeownership is the best investment a person can make has declined from 49 percent in 1991 to 37 percent in 2011.
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What Retirement Savings Tax Breaks Cost Us
Tweet Share on Facebook April 18, 2011 Comment (9)Saving in a 401(k) or IRA and taking the tax break is good for our personal finances. But shielding your money from income tax is not necessarily good for the country’s deficit.
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6 Tax-Advantaged Ways to Save for Retirement
Tweet Share on Facebook April 15, 2011 CommentLess than half of workers have access to a 401(k) or similar type of retirement account at work. Just 41 percent of private sector employees participated in an employer-sponsored defined contribution plan in March 2010, according to a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report. Here are the six most common types of retirement plans. Some fortunate employees are even offered more than one of these retirement accounts.
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Conscientious People Save More for Retirement
Tweet Share on Facebook April 12, 2011 CommentAmericans who are conscientious earn more money and save more of it for retirement, according to research from the University of Michigan Retirement Research Center. Workers who are at the 85th percentile of conscientiousness earn about $1,500 more per year than the average American. This amounts to about $96,000 more in lifetime earnings and $158,000 more in lifetime savings.
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Social Security Launches Star Trek Commercial
Tweet Share on Facebook April 7, 2011 Comment (8)George Takei reprises his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the USS Enterprise, in a new series of Star Trek-themed public service announcements from the Social Security Administration. Patty Duke explains to a skeptical Takei the convenience of signing up for Social Security benefits online. “You’ve navigated through asteroid belts, right?” Duke asks Takei. “Well, compared to that, navigating Social Security.gov is a snap…It’s so easy even Kirk could do it.”
