djaworski

12/11/2015 - Pushing Aside 401(k)’s for Mandatory Savings Plans (The New York Times)

Tony James and Teresa Ghilarducci are unlikely allies. He is president of Blackstone, the giant private equity firm; she’s a labor economist who has long advocated replacing 401(k)’s with a universal, federally managed saving plan.But the two have teamed up to push what they are calling Guaranteed Retirement Accounts, a government-sponsored plan that would require participation and… Read more 12/11/2015 - Pushing Aside 401(k)’s for Mandatory Savings Plans (The New York Times)

12/10/2015 - A Middle Ground Between Contract Worker and Employee (The New York Times)

Alan B. Krueger, a former chief economist to President Obama, and Seth D. Harris, a former deputy labor secretary, argued in a paper released this week that many workers in the so-called online gig economy should have more rights and protections than most do now. At the same time, they wrote, “forcing these new forms of work… Read more 12/10/2015 - A Middle Ground Between Contract Worker and Employee (The New York Times)

12/9/2015 - Americans Are Sinking Further Into Credit Card Debt (Money)

Consumer credit card debt is rising again. The average indebted household now carries a revolving balance of $15,355, according to a new study by NerdWallet. With credit cards carrying an average interest rate of 18%, that balance costs the average household $6,658 — 9% of income — in interest per year. Read the full post in… Read more 12/9/2015 - Americans Are Sinking Further Into Credit Card Debt (Money)

12/8/2015 - Deadline nears for certain seniors to withdraw from IRAs (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

For senior citizens age 70½ or older who have not yet taken the annual required minimum distribution from their IRAs, time is running out. If seniors unknowingly miss the Dec. 31 deadline, it ends up costing them dearly in the form of a tax penalty that amounts to 50 percent of what they should have withdrawn.… Read more 12/8/2015 - Deadline nears for certain seniors to withdraw from IRAs (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

12/7/2015 - Fixing The Weakest Link: Strengthening Retirement Security By Default (Forbes)

The field of behavioral economics has been instrumental in understanding how to deal with such issues. One significant contribution has led to the establishment of default features that automatically enroll new employees into DC plans using a sensible contribution rate schedule and investment strategy. These help address peoples’ tendencies to postpone enrollment and to make… Read more 12/7/2015 - Fixing The Weakest Link: Strengthening Retirement Security By Default (Forbes)

12/6/2015 - Older workers scale back hours for phased-in retirement (Associated Press)

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 17.7 percent of people 65 and older are still working in some capacity, compared with 11.7 percent in 1995. Of course, part of this increase could be due to a growing fear felt by many Americans about financial insecurity during retirement. Survey data has shown that fears about… Read more 12/6/2015 - Older workers scale back hours for phased-in retirement (Associated Press)

12/4/2015 - The Boomers' Gnawing Worry About Social Security (Forbes)

The Hearts and Wallets survey, Investor Mindset: Attitudes, Concerns, Beliefs & Goals, asked 5,365 U.S. households whether they agreed with this statement: “I feel confident I’ll receive the Social Security benefits promised me.” Just 51% of pre-retirees (households whose primary breadwinner plans to retire within five years) and 51% of post-retirees (ones where the primary breadwinner has stopped… Read more 12/4/2015 - The Boomers' Gnawing Worry About Social Security (Forbes)

12/4/2015 - Caregivers Sometimes Must Sacrifice Their Careers (The New York Times)

An estimated 34 million Americans cared for someone over age 50 in the past year, and the majority were employed, according to the latest caregiving study by AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving.These workers face a particularly difficult juggling act. Child care, for those fortunate enough to have healthy kids, becomes reasonably predictable over time,… Read more 12/4/2015 - Caregivers Sometimes Must Sacrifice Their Careers (The New York Times)

12/3/2015 - Percentage of adults with degrees increases (NPR Marketplace)

The U.S. Census Bureau released a trove of new data Thursday from the American Community Survey. Among the findings: In 2014, 30 percent of adults 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or higher. That’s up from about 28 percent five years earlier. For the first time, women were more likely to have a bachelor’s degree than men.The… Read more 12/3/2015 - Percentage of adults with degrees increases (NPR Marketplace)

12/2/2015 - The Retirement Generation Gap (CNBC)

Few milestones in life are as laden with dreams and fantasies as the day when a person retires. Will it be a slow downshift into a life of travel and time with grandchildren? A chance for gradually increasing immersion in a lifelong hobby? Perhaps it will be all of the above. Or perhaps future retirees’… Read more 12/2/2015 - The Retirement Generation Gap (CNBC)