Archive for the ‘Retirement’ Category
Retirement readiness continues to plummet
Posted: July 29, 2012 at 8:13 pm
One big change in the last 15 years is hardly a surprise: Americans face more economic uncertainty and financial challenges.
Many more households are struggling to make ends meet than in 1997, when consumer confidence was high and unemployment was low, says a survey released Monday by the Consumer Federation of America and Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards. Today the economy is in a far different place, and Americans are worried about their financial future, says Kevin Keller, CEO of the CFP's Board.
And now they have to decide how to use their limited resources to save for retirement and fund their children's college education, while maintaining an emergency fund and keeping out of debt.
Although attitudes have changed and concerns have risen over time, there is one constant. People who have a financial plan feel more confident about their financial future and report more success managing money, saving and investing, Keller says.
And when low-income families have a financial plan, they are more likely to pay their credit card bills in full and avoid debt, the survey found.
Yet only 31 percent of Americans have put together a financial plan, whether on their own or with a financial adviser, the survey says. And that was the same percentage as in 1997, when a similar survey was conducted. Among other findings:
38 percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, vs. 31 percent in 1997.
48 percent of families with college-bound children are saving for their education, down from 56 percent in 1997.
55 percent are worried about losing money if they invest it, compared with 45 percent in 1997.
About half of Americans are behind in retirement savings, compared with 38 percent in 1997.
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Retirement readiness continues to plummet
Prudential to sponsor the retirement risk index from Boston College center
Posted: at 3:12 am
By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff
Prudential Financial Inc. said today that it will be the exclusive sponsor of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston Colleges National Retirement Risk Index.
The index measures the percentage of working-age Americans at risk of failing to maintain their standard of living in retirement, Prudential, a New Jersey-based financial services company, said in a press release. As index sponsor, Prudential said it will underwrite a number of studies conducted by the Center for Retirement Research related to the index.
According to the index, the percentage of households at risk of not being able to maintain their standard of living in retirement has risen from 30 percent in 1989 to 51 percent in 2009.
In a statement, the centers director, Alicia Munnell, said, Retirement needs are increasing due to longer life spans and rising health care costs, while retirement resources are shrinking due to declining Social Security replacement rates and insufficient savings in 401(k)s.
Prudentials product offerings include life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds, investment management, and real estate services.
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Prudential to sponsor the retirement risk index from Boston College center
Retirement protection: Is your pension safe?
Posted: at 3:12 am
The big attraction of traditional pensions is their promise of security. They're designed to provide to a steady stream of checks in retirement to last the rest of your life. Unlike a 401k or other workplace contribution plan, what you get from a defined benefit pension doesn't depend on how much or how well you invest.
"Even during a downturn, (retirees receiving pensions) know how much they're getting on a monthly basis," said Karen Friedman, the executive vice president and policy director of the Pension Rights Center. "They know how much they can spend."
Increasingly, though, that promise of security is being broken. Lousy investment returns, changing company policies and taxpayer concerns about public retirement benefits are putting many pensions at risk. Consider:
Liz Weston
"These are the folks who thought they were totally protected, and then the company lays this on them," Friedman said. GM's move may give other companies the "green light" to consider similar actions, she said.
Traditional pensions are on the wane, but plenty of people still have them. Private plans cover nearly 44 million people, according to the PBGC, and public plans cover about 23 million (15 million active members and 8 million annuity recipients), according to the Census Bureau.
If you're one of them, here's what you need to know:
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Retirement protection: Is your pension safe?
Girl Punished w/ Shock Collar, 3-Year-Old Kills Dad, Romney "Retroactive Retirement" – Video
Posted: July 27, 2012 at 9:17 pm
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Girl Punished w/ Shock Collar, 3-Year-Old Kills Dad, Romney "Retroactive Retirement" - Video
Unemployed at 60 With $100,000 in Retirement Savings
Posted: at 9:17 pm
I'm 60 years old, unemployed and have $100,000 saved for retirement. Given my circumstances, I can't afford any losses. So I'm considering converting this money to gold and cash. What do you think? -- Robin, Scottsdale, Ariz.
Given your circumstances, I think you would be making a big mistake moving your hundred grand to gold and cash.
Let's start with gold. For all the hype about gold being a safe haven, the reality is that it can lose value as easily as the stock market. If you had plowed all your money into gold last September when it was selling for just under $1,900 an ounce, for example, your $100,000 stash would only be worth a little more than $84,000 today, since gold now goes for around $1,600 an ounce.
So whatever other merits gold may have as an investment, shielding you against losses isn't one of them.
Cash, on the other hand, can provide such shelter. Stick your hundred thousand in an FDIC-insured bank money-market account and, barring the U.S. government reneging on its promises, you can be certain that you'll always be able to draw on your entire original principal, plus any interest you earn.
But that interest, or lack of it, is the problem. Today, federally-insured bank money-market accounts that give you ready access to your money pay only 0.5% on average.
You can find higher yields by shopping around or by going to CDs that charge a penalty if you withdraw money before maturity.
But the return you'd earn probably still wouldn't keep pace with inflation. Which means that even though you may not be losing money per se, you would likely be losing purchasing power as inflation erodes the real value of your $100,000.
So I recommend that you think about your situation in a different light. Instead of trying to avoid any loss of any size at any time, focus on preserving capital in a way that protects your hundred large from devastating setbacks, but allows it to grow before and during retirement.
That way, you'll have a better shot at being able to rely on your savings stash not just today, but down the road.
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Unemployed at 60 With $100,000 in Retirement Savings
Don't Waste Your Retirement
Posted: at 9:17 pm
When we make the transition from working stiff into the ranks of the retired, we assume the responsibility and freedom to do what we want to do when we want to do it. We can now occupy ourselves with whatever pursuit most appeals to us and no longer answer to the dictates of job and career responsibilities. Exactly how we plan to spend each day of the next twenty or thirty years may not be crystal clear, but we can figure it out along the way.
Many baby boomers view retirement as a time of new opportunity and the beginning of a whole new chapter in their lives. But maintaining some connection to the working world is also important to many people. Some seniors would like to go back and forth between periods of work and leisure. Perhaps they fear losing the stimulation and engagement that is part of work.
However, some people enter retirement with no plans beyond relaxing and getting away from it all. This lack of preparation can be viewed as wishful thinking. Retirement can quickly lose its luster as months roll into years and boredom begins to surface. If you're not exactly sure what you will be doing in your second act, here are some steps to avoid wasting your well-deserved retirement days:
A little routine can be a good thing. It helps to have a routine to follow in retirement. You certainly don't need to schedule every hour on a calendar, but it's useful to have a general course to navigate. Getting up by a certain time in the morning to start the day is one example. Obviously, in retirement, you can sleep in as long as you want to, but at some point you may begin to feel that you are wasting the day. If you are a morning person, why not get up at seven or eight and take advantage of your high-energy time of day? It is amazing what you can accomplish by noontime when others are just getting started. For the very organized, you can be as detailed as you want to in your daily scheduling.
During my trial retirement a few years ago, my morning started at 7am with breakfast and a newspaper. Then I spent two to three hours on the computer, mainly writing and researching (and often injecting thirty minutes in the garden to reset and refresh a bit), walked to the gym for an hour workout, and came back home for lunch. After all that was accomplished, the whole second half of the day was still awaiting.
Strive to do something worthwhile each day. Keeping busy and active is a worthy goal. But if at the end of the day you find you have done nothing of consequence, you cannot do it over. A more meaningful day can be experienced by consciously focusing on doing something worthwhile. Take the time to help someone in some way, start or complete a project that has stalled, improve yourself by reading or learning something new, or bring a smile to the face of a fellow human being. It could be as insignificant as cleaning the house. But when you look back at the end of the day, it helps to have accomplished something of substance.
Be good to yourself. As you age, it's essential to take care of yourself, including regular exercise and a healthy diet. Don't feel guilty if you need to listen to your body when it says to slow down a bit. And make time to do things that you enjoy doing, whether that means bungee jumping from a bridge in Costa Rica or curling up on the couch with a book.
Dave Bernard is author of Are You Just Existing and Calling it a Life?, which offers guidelines to discover your personal passion and live a life of purpose. Not yet retired, Dave has begun his due diligence to plan for a fulfilling retirement. With a focus on the non-financial aspects of retiring, he shares his discoveries and insights on his blog Retirement-Only the Beginning.
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Don't Waste Your Retirement
Buccaneers' LeGrand announces retirement
Posted: July 26, 2012 at 8:19 pm
The Buccaneers' Eric LeGrand announced his retirement Thursday. He was originally signed by the team on May 2.
"Making it to the NFL was my dream. But now I want to see my team as strong as possible at the start of training camp," LeGrand said. "I'm a Buc for life."
LeGrand was honored with the Jimmy V Award for perseverance at the 2012 ESPYs earlier this month. In September, HarperCollins Publishers will release LeGrand's first book, a memoir entitled "Believe: My Faith And The Tackle That Changed My Life." There also will be a young readers version, "Believe: The Victorious Story Of Eric LeGrand."
LeGrand will be placed on Tampa Bay's reserve/retired list.
He was paralyzed from the neck down on Oct. 16, 2010 while tackling an Army kickoff returner while playing under Buccaneers head coach Greg Schiano at Rutgers. A junior at the time of his injury, LeGrand would have been a part of the 2012 draft.
As a college player, he recorded 60 tackles, 11 for loss and 2 sacks.
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Buccaneers' LeGrand announces retirement
Is BAT the Ultimate Retirement Share?
Posted: at 8:19 pm
LONDON -- The last five years have been tough for those in retirement. Portfolio valuations have been hammered, and annuity rates have plunged. There's no sign that matters will improve anytime soon, either, as the eurozone and the U.K. economy look set to muddle through at best for some years to come.
A great way to protect yourself from the downturn, however, is to build your retirement fund with shares of large, well-run companies that should grow their earnings steadily over the coming decades. Over time, such investments ought to result in rising dividends and inflation-beating capital growth.
In this series, I'm tracking down the U.K. large caps that have the potential to beat the FTSE 100 over the long term and support a lower-risk, income-generating retirement fund. (You can see the companies I've covered so far on this page.)
Today I'll take a look at British American Tobacco (LSE: BATS.L) , the world's second-largest tobacco company and a favored share among dividend investors (including Neil Woodford), thanks to its high profits and its policy of paying out 65% of earnings as dividends.
Smoking performance?The addictive nature of their products makes tobacco companies good defensive shares; they perform well in a downturn. BAT has proved the truth of this by comprehensively outperforming the FTSE 100 over the last 10 years:
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Is BAT the Ultimate Retirement Share?
Everyone makes some retirement investing mistakes
Posted: July 25, 2012 at 5:13 pm
I'm 25 and off to a good start saving for retirement. But I'm scared stiff about how to invest my Roth IRA because a poor decision could cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars by the time I retire. Any advice? Andy C., Des Moines, Iowa
Relax, there's no need to work yourself into a lather. Even though many pros like to make investing seem complicated -- probably so you'll hire them to manage your money -- it's really not all that difficult.
Sure, you'll make some mistakes. We all do. But as long as you follow a few key principles like keeping it simple, holding the line on costs, diversifying broadly and ignoring the jabber of pundits who advocate constant buying and selling, any flubs you make aren't likely to wreak mortal damage.
Take solace in the fact that you're already doing the single most important thing to assure a secure future: You're actually saving. Wall Street types may cringe when I say this, but contributing to a retirement account regularly throughout your career is more important than investing prowess for building wealth over the long term.
That said, since you're going to the trouble to put bucks aside in your Roth IRA, you might as well earn a decent return. Here are three ways you can do that, ranging from easy to easier to easiest, without getting obsessive-compulsive about it.
The easy way. Your aim as a long-term investor should be to build a diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds and then stick with it, except to rebalance every year or so.
You can create that stocks-bonds mix simply and effectively by investing in just three funds: a total stock market index fund, a total bond market index fund and a total international stock index fund, each of which you can find on our MONEY 70 list.
This three-fund combo will give you exposure to the entire U.S. stock market, virtually all publicly-traded foreign stocks and the full gamut of taxable investment-grade domestic bonds.
In short, you'll put together the building blocks for a well-balanced portfolio -- and you'll do it on the cheap. Your annual costs should come in below 0.25% a year, or less than a quarter of what the typical mutual fund charges.
As for how to divvy up your money among these three components, there's no "official" blend. But considering that you're young and have plenty of time to ride out market setbacks, you'll want to lean heavily toward stocks, which have the potential to generate the highest long-term gains.
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Everyone makes some retirement investing mistakes
fi360 Announces Initiative with Charles Schwab Retirement Business Services for Fiduciary Management Solution
Posted: at 5:13 pm
PITTSBURGH, July 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --fi360, the premier organization for fiduciary education, investment analytics, support services, and industry insights for financial professionals, today announced a collaboration with Charles Schwab Retirement Business Services. Schwab retirement advisors will now have access to a customized version of the fi360 Toolkit that is directly integrated into the Schwab Retirement Center technology platform. fi360 also will be conducting custom Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) training events for Schwab retirement plan advisors.
The technology project will allow Schwab advisors to leverage fi360's first-in-class product, an online investment management tool created to support advisors' management of client portfolios and documentation of a prudent investment process.
In addition to this key technology development, the two firms are working together to bring AIF training to Schwab retirement plan advisors, enabling them to earn the AIF designation. The AIF designation represents a thorough knowledge of and ability to apply a fiduciary process.
Importantly, the fi360 Toolkit is fully integrated with the Schwab advisor interface and will:
"fi360's sophisticated toolkit is an integral part of our commitment to helping advisors meet a fiduciary standard of care and help their clients navigate the evolving retirement landscape," said Debbie Pritchard, vice president, Schwab Retirement Business Services. "By streamlining investment selection, analysis, and reporting, advisors will be able to more efficiently provide their clients with a high level of service and transparency."
"We are excited to be working with Schwab to support retirement plan advisors with the most sophisticated fiduciary education and plan management and client reporting tools available," said fi360 CEO Blaine Aikin. "But it is ultimately the investors on the receiving end of highly-supported, prudent fiduciary management who are the greatest beneficiaries of this collaboration."
About fi360fi360 offers a comprehensive approach to investment fiduciary education, practice management and support that has established them as the go-to source for investment fiduciary insights. With substantiated Practices as the foundation, fi360 offers world-class fiduciary Training/Education,ToolsandResourcesthat are essential for fiduciaries and those who provide services to fiduciaries to effectively and successfully manage their roles and responsibilities. Fi360 assists those who rely on their fiduciary education programs, professionalAIF and AIFA designations, Web-based analytical and reporting software and resources to achieve success. For more information about fi360, please visitwww.fi360.comor Twitter: @fi360.
About Charles SchwabThe Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW) is a leading provider of financial services, with more than 300offices and 8.7million client brokerage accounts, 1.52million corporate retirement plan participants, 822,000banking accounts, and $1.80trillion in client assets. The company was ranked "Highest in Investor Satisfaction with Self-Directed Services" in the 2012 U.S. Self-Directed Investor Satisfaction StudySM from J.D. Power and Associates. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides a full range of securities brokerage, banking, money management and financial advisory services to individual investors and independent investment advisors. Its broker-dealer subsidiary, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC, http://www.sipc.org), and affiliates offer a complete range of investment services and products including an extensive selection of mutual funds; financial planning and investment advice; retirement plan and equity compensation plan services; referrals to independent fee-based investment advisors; and custodial, operational and trading support for independent, fee-based investment advisors through Schwab Advisor Services. Its banking subsidiary, Charles Schwab Bank (member FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender), provides banking and mortgage services and products. More information is available at http://www.schwab.com and http://www.aboutschwab.com.
Charles Schwab Bank; Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.; Schwab Retirement Plan Services, Inc.; Schwab Retirement Plan Services Company; and Schwab Retirement Technologies (Schwab RT) are separate but affiliated companies and wholly owned subsidiaries of The Charles Schwab Corporation. Brokerage products and services are offered by Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Trust and custody products and services are offered by Charles Schwab Bank. Schwab Retirement Plan Services, Inc. and Schwab Retirement Plan Services Company provide recordkeeping services with respect to retirement plans. Schwab RT is engaged in developing and licensing proprietary retirement plan recordkeeping systems to independent third-party administrators.
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fi360 Announces Initiative with Charles Schwab Retirement Business Services for Fiduciary Management Solution