A digest of timely information and insight about finance, investing, and retirement.
Don’t despair about retirement – take action | CBS Money Watch
Yet another survey illustrates the anxiety many Americans feel about retirement and many have insufficient savings to maintain their current standard of living into their retirement years. While working longer is one possible response to these challenges, most people reach a point when they’re no longer able to work or their employer no longer wants them to. But action is the antidote to despair.
Read more about America’s retirement crisis.
To raise or not raise rates? That’s not the question to ask | USA Today
“To raise or not to raise?” is the question facing the Federal Reserve. But it’s not the question you ought to be asking. The question you should ask is: Does it really matter whether and when the Fed raises short-term interest rates from 0.25% to 0.50%? And the answer is no. Or at least not yet.
For widows, Social Security can provide rude shocks | The New York Times
Despite the peace of mind its name promises, Social Security can be a source of confusion and stress – and an added burden to those dealing with the loss of a spouse. What a widow or widower claims from Social Security, and when, can make a long-term difference in lifetime benefits.
Here’s one public pension fund that survived the 2008 crisis | Crain’s Chicago Business
The 2008 financial crisis hurt retirement savings, but public defined benefit pensions in red states and blue states survived the market’s free-fall in reasonable shape. What distinguishes financially sound pensions from others? It’s simple: mandated, adequate contributions.
No surprise: Conservative sneers that public employees like their pensions | Los Angeles Times
A recent Gallup poll finding that public employees are happier than private-sector workers with their pension plans and other benefits raises a question: why are public employees are so much happier with their retirement benefits than their private-sector counterparts? Gallup implies that the reason isn’t so much that their benefits are higher, but that they’re more dependable.
3 tips to getting retirement right in your 20s | CNN Money
Hardly a day goes by that one study or another doesn’t purport to offer insights into what Millenials are doing, should be doing or shouldn’t be doing about their finances. But ultimately it’s the actions you take on your own, not what Millennials as a group may or may not do, that will determine whether you achieve the secure financial future you seek. [Check out The Dime for more tips on saving for retirement when you’re young.]
No Social Security COLA Likely in 2016 | BenefitsPro
Thanks to collapsing oil prices, inflation has been flat—and that means it’s looking more and more likely that retirees won’t see a cost-of-living increase in their Social Security checks come January.
ColaAcronym for cost-of-living adjustment; a type of annual adjustment meant to prevent a person from losing buying power due to inflation.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.
