mbeals

5/21/2013 - Transforming your 401(k) into steady income (Reuters)

A job and a paycheck – they go together like coffee and cream. But when you retire from your regular job, does that mean you have to give up the cream? A growing number of 401(k) plans are including investment choices that can help savers convert nest eggs into retirement income. Participants can buy insurance… Read more 5/21/2013 - Transforming your 401(k) into steady income (Reuters)

5/15/2013 - In U.S., Average Retirement Age Up to 61 (Gallup)

The average age at which U.S. retirees say they actually retired is now at 61, up from 57 in the early 1990s. These results are from Gallup’s annual Economy and Personal Finance survey, conducted April 4-14. The average retirement age has crept up by four years over the past two decades, from 57 in 1991… Read more 5/15/2013 - In U.S., Average Retirement Age Up to 61 (Gallup)

5/15/2013 - 4% Rule for Retirement Withdrawals Is Golden No More (NY Times)

ONE thing most retirees want to avoid is outliving their money. Since the mid-1990s many of them have relied on a staple of retirement planning known as the 4 percent rule to avoid that. Although the name says 4 percent, the rule is that if retirees withdraw 4.5 percent of their savings every year, adjusted… Read more 5/15/2013 - 4% Rule for Retirement Withdrawals Is Golden No More (NY Times)

5/14/2013 - How They Do It Elsewhere (NY Times)

The United States can boast that it has the world’s best basketball players, fighter jets and country and western singers. But hardly anyone would ever boast that the United States has the world’s best retirement system. Scores of other countries have elaborate retirement systems, and some of them avoid the biggest pitfalls of America’s retirement… Read more 5/14/2013 - How They Do It Elsewhere (NY Times)

5/9/2013 - SEC, FINRA warn retirees on pension buyouts (Reuters)

The top securities regulators on Thursday warned individual investors about pension purchasing companies that persuade retirees and military veterans to sign over pension checks in return for lump-sum payments, as regulatory concerns about the practice mount. Read the full article at Reuters.

5/9/2013 - Age discrimination: Boomers are guilty, too (Wall Street Journal)

It’d be nice to think that as the 76-milllion-strong baby-boom generation marches into older age it will trample age discrimination into the dust. Don’t hold your breath. While some say there are signs of incremental improvement—the bias may be a little less blatant than in decades past—it’s also true that mature folks probably are as… Read more 5/9/2013 - Age discrimination: Boomers are guilty, too (Wall Street Journal)

5/8/2013 - 5 prime annuity prospects (Life Health Pro)

Annuities are tools. They are acquired because the purchaser has a particular job to be done and is willing to exchange his money for a tool to do that job. In many ways, this exchange transaction is like the purchase of a hammer. The hammer has certain specifications — type and strength of the metal,… Read more 5/8/2013 - 5 prime annuity prospects (Life Health Pro)

5/2/2013 - Time to wake from the American Dream and face retirement reality (LA Times)

The retirement plans of more and more Americans are about as connected to reality as Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Grim is exactly what it is going to be for these folks when, in their 70s, their 401(k)s have petered out, they have no pensions and no income except what they get from the tottering Social Security… Read more 5/2/2013 - Time to wake from the American Dream and face retirement reality (LA Times)

5/1/2013 - Why you should fill an ‘emergency bucket’ (Wall Street Journal)

Many retirees think long and hard about their bucket lists. But financial advisers say they should give equal attention to the different buckets of their retirement portfolios—a strategy that can help if unexpected medical costs arise. Read the full article at The Wall Street Journal.

4/30/2013 - Cordray Calls for Financial Education in Schools (American Banker)

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is recommending that policymakers implement a nationwide financial education program into grade school as well as standardized tests. Upon issuing a white paper Tuesday, CFPB Director Richard Cordray called the current process “utterly unacceptable” in which consumers mostly learn how to manage their finances by trial-and-error. Read the full article… Read more 4/30/2013 - Cordray Calls for Financial Education in Schools (American Banker)