A digest of timely information and insight about finance, investing, and retirement.
Is more money the key to a happy retirement? | CBS News
With many people approaching their retirement years with meager savings, aiming to be happy might be more realistic than aiming to fully retire and not work at all. But that means thinking about how much money you really need to be happy.
Student debt repayment takes priority over retirement planning | Employee Benefit News
A recent report found that 68 percent of US millennials, those ages 20 to 37, are saving for retirement, about 48 percent of them in a workplace-sponsored 401(k) plan. Only 29 percent were actively preparing for retirement. Of millennials who were surveyed, 77 percent listed debt reduction as their top retirement strategy. The study also found that 28 percent of millennials believe they won’t be able to retire at the age they want and 28 percent don’t believe they will ever be able to retire. [See what The Dime has to say about student loans vs. saving for retirement.]
Auto-escalation on the rise in retirement plans | Employee Benefit News
The retirement industry is hopeful that Americans are beginning to save enough for a successful life post-employment, and auto-escalation plays a big part in such optimism. Auto escalation automatically increases the percentage of an employee’s salary that is contributed to a retirement plan. In the last 12 to 24 months, the move to have plans auto-escalate has picked up significantly.
Senior savers will wait to reap benefits from fed rate increases | Bloomberg
After years of enduring meager returns on low-risk investments, retirees can look forward to more money in their pockets after the Fed starts raising interest rates, though the benefits won’t flow swiftly. The Fed, which has drawn political ire for policies that critics say penalized savers, says it expects to only raise rates gradually.
Dealing with an investing blind spot | New York Times
We all have blind spots, and it’s hard to be objective about our own behavior. A simple, though maybe not easy, solution is to find and listen to other people who can see our blind spots. [Read more about how bad financial decisions can lead to trouble when it comes to retirement savings.]
When crisis hits, older Americans more likely to raid retirement savings | Bankrate
One in 8 Americans tapped their retirement savings over the past 12 months to pay for a household emergency, according to a September survey that accompanies the Bankrate Financial Security Index. The chances of people using retirement savings go up with age, with 8 percent of those between ages 18 and 29 saying they had done so, compared to 19 percent of people at least 65 years old. [Our ancestors may be to blame for why we spend our retirement savings today instead of saving for when we’ll need it.]
What happened to the social security windfall tax bill? When I retired I had 26 years under social security and did not get my full SS retirement amount.
Mr. Chambers,
Thank you for your question. No action has been taken on H.R. 711 (or H.R. 973) at the federal level. We will post updated information as it is available. In the meantime, you may want to contact your U.S. Representative and tell your story.