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4 Key Retiree Issues in Budget Deal
Tweet Share on Facebook July 11, 2011 Comment (6)With government debt defaults looming just three weeks away, the prospect of major changes in senior spending and safety-net programs is the greatest it's been in decades. The final form of any changes is still to be determined. But there are several aspects of possible spending and tax changes that are especially important to seniors.
[See 50 Best Funds for the Everyday Investor.]
First off, some broad points need to be made. One is that there appear to be no "done deals" here. It is still very much trial balloon time in Washington. Is the "big deal" still a possibility? Or will we end up with a "small ball" approach, with large but not game-changing spending cuts? If it's the latter, how will world markets react?
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The 10 Top-Rated 401(k) Plans
Tweet Share on Facebook July 7, 2011 CommentGenerous employer matches, broad and often imaginative investment choices, and low fees are the common attributes of the nation's most attractive 401(k) plans, according to rankings from BrightScope, a firm that tracks the performance of more than 50,000 retirement plans which it says contain 90 percent of all retirement plan assets. The top 10 plans BrightScope identified for U.S. News had to have assets exceeding $1 billion to be included in the ranking.
[See 50 Best Funds for the Everyday Investor.]
BrightScope identifies six primary factors in its comparative evaluations of retirement plans: total plan costs, employer generosity, investment menu quality, employee participation rate, the average amount of employee contributions or salary deferrals, and the average size of employee account balances.
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5 Retirement Strategies for Uncertain Times
Tweet Share on Facebook July 5, 2011 CommentDelaying Social Security, refusing to cash out of retirement plans with lump-sum payments, and buying annuities to provide income for retirement essentials topped the list of expert retirement recommendations in a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
[See 10 Steps to Fine-Tune Your Retirement Plan.]
This was the consistent advice from a broad range of retirement experts sought out by the GAO. Yet it found that older Americans regularly seek current income at the expense of much larger benefits that they would receive if they waited. This short-term focus is at odds with increases in longevity, and makes it more likely that people will outlive their retirement assets.
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Seniors Don't Pay Full Medicare, Social Security Share
Tweet Share on Facebook July 1, 2011 Comment (34)In the current debates over cuts to federal spending, seniors' organizations overwhelmingly argue against cuts to Medicare or Social Security. Public opinion polls also find big majorities against cuts. Perhaps the most often-used defense of the programs is that they provide benefits that people have paid for through payroll taxes and Medicare insurance premiums. "You paid for it—you earned it," is a common rallying cry.
In reality, however, that statement is far from accurate. Consumer payments that flow to Social Security and Medicare fall well short of paying for the programs' benefits, and the gap is getting wider each year.
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The Best Life
Philip Moeller, contributing editor for U.S. News Money, writes about achieving success and happiness in older age. He also is a research fellow at the Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College.
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