More sausage is being made down in Washington D.C.—never a good thing especially when “revenue” and “IRA” are used in the same sentence. It’s called the SECURE Act, which laughably stands for Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement. It sailed through the House 417-3 and is expected to pass under unanimous consent by the Senate. The insurance industry loves the Secure Act. Uh-oh. At the heart of their love affair with this foul ball is the introduction of annuities as investment options for 401(k) plans. The reason they haven’t been offered in the past is because … [Read more...]
If You Are in Pain, this May Help. It Helped Me
Are you in pain? Does your body ache? Well, it’s called life. But there’s something you can do about it. We all have heard about mind over body. This is different. Let me introduce you to the late Dr. John E. Sarno, who during his life helped relieve the pain of people like Harvard Medical School grad and guru of alt medicine Dr. Andrew Weil, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld creator Larry David, TV personality John Stossel, and shock-jock Howard Stern. What Dr. Sarno has done for them and for others is to understand that sometimes our mind-body connection is disconnected. Our … [Read more...]
Three Dangerous Traps Investors Face
There’s a lot you can’t control when you’re investing. Putting your money in securities necessitates some risk taking. You probably aren’t managing the companies you own, or the governments you lend to yourself, so you have to trust managers and politicians to do that. And you’ll never direct consumers and taxpayers, so revenue streams are completely out of your control. There are though, things you can do to put yourself on sounder footing. In July of 2004 I wrote: Compound Interest and You Here’s a compound interest story that should help you and your spouse. Let’s assume a hypothetical … [Read more...]
Is the World’s Largest Money Manager Pushing You into an Annuity?
I love the idea of maxing out your 401(k) until retirement because old school pensions are hard to come by. But turning your 401(k) into an annuity at retirement is a fool's errand. You’re faced with nosebleed inducing fees and limited access to your money while the insurance companies bank on your early demise. Not exactly a healthy relationship. It’s concerning that BlackRock, the world's largest money manager, is pushing for 401(k) annuities to grow its assets at the price of those who cannot afford to lose them and deserve better. Dawn Lim reports on the troubling development at … [Read more...]
America is Beating Japan in this Retirement Savings Measure, but Not for the Right Reason
Running out of money during retirement is the greatest risk people take when they decide to stop working. The World Economic Forum has published new research that shows Americans aren't saving enough to cover the last decade or so of their retirement. That pales in comparison to the Japanese, who fail to save enough for the last two decades of their retirement. The only problem here for Americans though is that a big portion of that savings disparity comes because Japanese people are living so much longer, not because Americans are simply saving that much more. Bloomberg's Ben Steverman … [Read more...]
Have You Already Lost Hope for Retirement?
A scary statistic was recently uncovered in a survey conducted by LendEDU. Nearly 40 percent of Americans fear they will never save enough money to retire. Bloomberg reports: That’s despite nearly one in five Americans who said having enough money saved to be able to retire is their most important financial goal, according to a survey of 1,000 adults conducted by LendEDU in May. More Americans said saving for retirement is more important versus those that indicated paying off credit card debt or building an emergency fund, according to the survey. However, slightly more respondents said … [Read more...]
Healthcare Could Cost You Your Retirement: Part II
Yesterday I explained to you how even frugal retirees can have their savings sunk when unexpected health care costs arise. Running out of money in retirement is not something anyone wants. Many Americans end up working through what should be their retirement years because they failed to plan properly. If you want to better formulate a plan that includes provisions for health care costs in retirement, read through this guide from Fidelity. If you are like most Americans, health care is expected to be one of your largest expenses in retirement, after housing and transportation costs. But unlike … [Read more...]
Will You Run Out of Money in Retirement?
The Employee Benefit Research Institute has run the numbers, and they don't look good. An estimated 40.6% of American households are projected to run out of money in retirement. Christy Bieber reports: Saving too little for retirement is a major fear of most Americans, and studies have shown that more Americans fear insufficient retirement savings than fear death. Running out of money is indeed very frightening, as no one wants to be without the cash they need in their 70s and 80s. But how likely is it that you'll actually run out of money during your retirement years? Unfortunately, … [Read more...]
How Many “Retirees” Will Keep Working?: Some Just Won’t Stop
Today, Bloomberg's Stephanomics podcast analyzes a theme I've been writing about for a while, the question of How Many “Retirees” Will Keep Working? The podcast discusses the plight of many Americans who are old enough to collect Social Security, but can't live comfortably on the amount of money they receive, along with what they have saved. So, these older Americans just keep working. Scott Lanman described the podcast here: Many older Americans are living longer and are happy to keep working. Others can't afford to retire. Those are just a couple of the reasons why people over age 65 are … [Read more...]
How Many “Retirees” Will Keep Working?: Paying Their Kids’ Bills
Across America, parents are spending their retirement savings to pay their children's bills. Student loans, insurance, credit cards, and healthcare costs are just some of the bills Americans are paying for their adult children. The extra burden is forcing parents to reduce their savings each month, or even dip into their nest eggs. Megan Cerullo reports at CBS News: Half of American parents have cut back on their retirement savings to help pay their children's bills, a Bankrate.com study shows. Parents are putting their kids' car insurance, cell phone bills, credit card debt and health … [Read more...]
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