“Even if you were an incredibly well-informed investor and paid a great deal of attention, it’s very hard to succeed in this system.” This is the assessment of law professor William A. Birdthistle, who has penned a new book on the perceived failures of the United States’ do-it-yourself retirement system, specifically mutual funds and 401(k)s. To read what Birdthistle sees…
“In the quest to generate retirement income, retirees are often looking for new and innovative ways to put more money in their pockets,” acknowledges today’s article which attempts to help retirees in that regard by outlining “four life hacks for retirement income”. Which popular investments make dividend payments monthly as opposed to quarterly? What well-known companies have two dividend payments…
The United States is not #1 when it comes to retirement security – in fact it failed to even crack the top 10 on the recently released 2016 Natixis Global Retirement Index, which assessed and ranked 43 countries on the retirement security of their residents. Instead, the U.S. ranked “a middling No. 14, right after Luxembourg and several notches below…
While we frequently hear and read about how most Americans are not saving enough for retirement, those fortunate enough to have lots of money to sock away in retirement accounts may be facing a problem of their own. Today’s article examines the increasing number of “proposals to stunt the growth of outsized retirement accounts”, including those contained in President Obama’s…
Everyone loves surprises – but not when you are a retiree and the surprise is the size of your Social Security check. Today’s article cites a recent survey which found that, for 29 percent of retirees, their benefit ended up being less or much less than expected. Moreover, the survey found that many pre-retirees are simply guessing as to how…
Earlier this month a commission charged with devising a plan to strengthen the retirement security and personal savings of Americans released its report – and today’s article outlines how “a lot of high income earners are going to hate it”. The 146-page report from the Bipartisan Policy Center “includes revamps of everything from 401(k) plans to reverse mortgages to tax…
“Companies are willing to concede quite a bit – but people need to know what retirement benefits to ask for and how to ask,” states today’s article, which examines the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to negotiating a retirement package. From approaching negotiations as a battle rather than as “a collaborative conversation”, to focusing on money at the…
In light of the reality that many Americans are on track to fall short of meeting recommended retirement savings targets, as well as the finding that almost half of working-age households have no money saved in retirement accounts, the author of today’s article believes it is time for many to rethink their beliefs about saving, investing and retirement. As such,…
“If you’re like most people, you have less than $75,000 saved for retirement. Yet, you keep hearing that you need upward of $1 million to make it through your retirement years. Just where is that million bucks going to come from?” Today’s article outlines the stories “of 3 super-savers – people who have saved more than double the national average…
“Millennials have more than enough financial worries. Now they can add about 2 million more to their list. That’s how much many might need to save to retire.” Today’s article examines how much Millennials may need to have stashed away in order to maintain their standard of living in retirement, and the numbers are substantial. According to various studies, estimates…