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10 Ways the Recession Has Changed Retirement
Tweet Share on Facebook May 27, 2011 CommentThe recession is having a lingering impact on the baby boomer’s retirement plans. Retirees and those close to retirement lack the time to properly recover from job losses, falling home prices, and investment portfolio losses. Their retirement options are to work longer, save more, or settle for a lower standard of living in retirement. Here is how the recession has impacted the retirement plans of people age 50 and older.
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Baby Boomers Fear Retirement Years
Tweet Share on Facebook May 25, 2011 Comment (2)Retirees and workers on the verge of retirement have many concerns about their continued financial security. Baby boomers and seniors don’t know what expenses they may incur in retirement and are concerned that they will end up in poverty if they spend down their savings too quickly. But they also feel that they don’t know enough about investing to protect themselves and that the financial services industry isn’t looking out for their best interests, according to a recent Financial Engines report based on 300 interviews with near-retirees and retirees between March 2008 and February 2011. Here’s a look at some of the baby boomer’s biggest retirement fears.
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Retirement Strategy: Work as Long as Possible
Tweet Share on Facebook May 23, 2011 CommentRetirement isn’t a universal goal among workers. Over a third of employees expect to work past age 70 or never retire, according to a new Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies survey.
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The Workers Most Likely to Delay Retirement
Tweet Share on Facebook May 20, 2011 Comment (1)The recession has put greater pressure on workers to stay on the job. But some groups of people have been significantly more likely to postpone retirement than others. Here is whose retirement plans are the most likely to have changed as a result of the recession.
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Senate Bill Would Limit 401(k) Loans
Tweet Share on Facebook May 19, 2011 Comment (9)A new bill aims to make it more difficult for workers to take out 401(k) loans, but easier to pay them back. Senators Herb Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat, and Mike Enzi, a Wyoming Republican, introduced a bill on Wednesday with provisions intended to prevent the leakage of savings from 401(k)s before retirement.
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401(k) Savings Inches Upward
Tweet Share on Facebook May 17, 2011 CommentThe average 401(k) balance rose to $74,900 in the first quarter 2011, up from $71,500 at the end of 2010, and the highest amount recorded since this data began being tracked in 1998, according to recently released Fidelity data. Fidelity 401(k) balances have grown 12 percent since last year and 58 percent since 2009.
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Financial Outlook Worsens for Social Security, Medicare
Tweet Share on Facebook May 13, 2011 Comment (50)Social Security and Medicare’s annual checkup found that the entitlement system continues to face long-term financial challenges. The Social Security trust fund is expected to be exhausted in 2036, one year sooner than was projected last year. And the date Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund is projected to be depleted has advanced up to 2024, five years earlier than in last year’s report. Once those dates pass, there will only be sufficient resources coming in to pay out about 77 percent of scheduled Social Security benefits and 90 percent of retirees hospital insurance costs, unless changes are made to the program.
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Senate Considers Potential Social Security Changes
Tweet Share on Facebook May 12, 2011 Comment (5)The Senate Committee on Finance held a hearing this week to examine the impact Social Security has on the federal budget. The Social Security trust fund is currently projected to hold enough resources to pay out benefits until the end of 2037. After that, unless changes are made to the program, there will only be enough money to pay out about three quarters of scheduled benefits.
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Have 401(k)s Recovered Yet?
Tweet Share on Facebook May 10, 2011 CommentAverage 401(k) balances have topped 2007 highs. But not all investors have more money than they did four years ago. An appropriate asset allocation and continued saving were necessary to help your nest egg recuperate from the recession.
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Why We Assign Social Security Numbers at Birth
Tweet Share on Facebook May 6, 2011 CommentJacob and Isabella were the most popular names given to newborn boys and girls in the United States in 2010, according to Social Security card application data released yesterday. Each name made up just over 1 percent of all births reported to the Social Security Administration last year.
