A digest of timely information and insight about finance, investing, and retirement.
Denver Third-Best City for Retirees in US, Says New Study | Denver Business Journal
Denver is the third-best city in the US for retirees, according to a new study. A total of 60 US cities were ranked by factors that would affect retirees, including health care, the economy, affordability, transportation, crime, the environment and social and wellness activities.
Social Security Explained | Yahoo News
August 14 marked the 80th anniversary of the date that President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act. The program has continued to help retired workers for decades, but the future of Social Security is looking a little insecure.
The Real Reasons Americans Aren’t Saving Enough for Retirement | Time
When it comes to adequate savings for retirement, most American workers are not only falling short, they don’t even know how far behind they are. And trends are getting worse, according to a new survey from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies. Lack of wage growth, the disappearance of pensions and the decline in 401(k) coverage amount private sector workers, especially low- and middle-income households, contribute to a lack of retirement savings, especially for younger Americans.
Public Pension Shocker: Shutting a Pension Plan Actually Costs Taxpayers Money | Los Angeles Times
A study looked at three states that closed their traditional defined benefit pension plans and placed new employees in a 401(k)-style defined contribution plan. Results showed that taking these steps sharply increases pension costs to taxpayers while providing employees with markedly poorer retirement benefits.
Advice After Stock Market Drop: Take Some Deep Breaths, and Don’t Do a Thing | The New York Times
Stocks are most useful for long-term goals, so it probably doesn’t make much sense to overhaul an investment strategy based on a blip of market activity.
Worried About the Stock Market? Whatever You Do, Don’t Sell. | FiveThirtyEight
Market crashes happen. Since 1950, the S&P 500 has had one-day declines of 3 percent or more nearly 100 times. Slow-motion crashes, where big declines are spread out over several trading days, are even more common. But every one of those declines has been followed by a rebound. Sometimes it comes right away. Sometimes it takes weeks or months. But when it comes, it comes quickly. If you want until the rebound is clearly visible, you’ve already missed the biggest gains.
Defined benefitAlso known as a pension, this is a type of pooled retirement plan in which the plan promises to pay a lifetime benefit to the employee at retirement. The plan manages investments on behalf of members, and the retirement benefit is based on factors such as age at retirement, years of employment and salary history.Defined contributionA type of individual retirement plan in which an employee saves a portion of each paycheck (along with a potential employer match) and invests that money. The employee’s retirement benefit is based on their account balance at retirement. A 401(k) is a type of defined contribution plan.
