The result? It used to be that households headed by someone over the age of 50 began to deleverage — that is, pay down their debt. Now, we’re seeing an opposite phenomenon: those families instead go further into arrears, acquiring even more debits on the household budget sheet at ages previous generations associated with the early bird special.
Read the full article at Reuters.
To better understand how families impact retirement plans, Age Wave, in partnership with Merrill Lynch completed a large, groundbreaking survey entitled “Family & Retirement: The Elephant in the Room.” Conducted by research firm Harris Interactive, the survey gathered responses from a representative sample of more than 5,000 people age 25 and older from all walks of life (including thousands of pre-retirees as well as retirees), who weighed in with their hopes and fears about retirement.
Read the full article at Huffington Post.
There’s been no shortage of gloomy headlines about the struggles of workers age 50 and over. But there’s one area in which this age group continues to shine: entrepreneurship.
Read the full article at MarketWatch.
You’ve already said goodbye to defined-benefit plans. Now say goodbye to defined-contribution plans, and hello to a promising new wrinkle known as the defined-ambition plan.
Read the full article at Time.
Millennials understand that they need to save. Two simple policy shifts will give them the means.
Read the full article at Time.
Is it fair that today’s workers might have to pay for promises made to the current generation of retirees, even if these retirees didn’t pay for the full cost of their own benefits? The topic of “intergenerational equity” was the subject of a lively debate at the recent annual meeting of the Society of Actuaries (SOA), held in San Diego.
Read the full article by Center on Longevity Research Scholar Steve Vernon at CBS MoneyWatch.
In this extended interview, Harvard Business Review editor Justin Fox discusses how the U.S. system is faring in a global perspective and what adjustments might be of benefit to the growing number of American retirees.
Reda the full article at PBS NewsHour.
As headlines go, it’s approaching “Dog Bites Man” territory, but it’s a story worth citing all the same as an illustration of the obstacles facing any effort to put Social Security on sounder financial footing. In an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs poll, most voters aged 50 and over opposed any changes to the retirement program that could lead to a reduction in their benefits.
Read the full article at MarketWatch.
Social Security is not in financial trouble, at least not under the current laws that govern the retirement program. That’s the unequivocal answer from Steve Goss, chief actuary for the Social Security Administration, who spoke recently about Social Security’s funding challenges at the annual meeting of the Society of Actuaries in San Diego.
But what about all the headlines about the Social Security Trust Fund will run out of money in 2033?
Read the full article by Center on Longevity Research Scholar Steve Vernon at CBS MoneyWatch.
A new Wells Fargo study found that 37% of people don’t ever expect to retire, but instead will have to “work until I’m too sick or die.” Survey respondents say paying the monthly bills is their highest priority, and saving for retirement is a distant second.
Read the full article at USA Today.