A financial transaction tax (FTT) is exactly what it sounds like: a tax imposed on the exchange of all or certain types of financial instruments. A well-known example of such a tax is the British stamp tax—a modern version of the tax that contributed to the American independence movement. Recently, several prominent presidential candidates, including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Kamala Harris, have called for such a tax……Read More
Few Americans do much to protect themselves against the cost of long term care (LTC) in later life. In fact, between half and three-quarters of Americans are anticipated to need LTC at some point, yet only about 8 percent of the US population has LTC insurance. Instead, many people simply hope to deal with long-term care and other health risks when they happen. This is not a sensible way to deal with one of life’s major shocks, particularly when one could spend several years in such an institution at an annual cost of over $90,000.…Read More
We have recently explored this question focusing on smokers, since smoking is widely confirmed to reduce human life spans. Our research reveals a stunning gap between objective life expectancy and how smokers think about their own life spans. To examine this point, we asked 963 in a representative sample in Israel whether they thought they would live as long as, less than, or longer than an average person.…Read More
Retirement legislation is one of the few areas where there currently appears to be bipartisan consensus in the US Congress. The SECURE Act, a comprehensive package covering numerous aspects of retirement saving, recently passed the House by a vote of 417-3 and it is expected to pass the Senate this year. One of the bill’s key provisions is to allow the creation of “open” Multiple Employer Plans (MEPs).…Read More
Older Americans are carrying growing levels of debt into retirement. This topic was the main focus of the 2019 Pension Research Council symposium, and debt was also studied in a recent Society of Actuaries (SOA) study entitled “Financial Perspectives on Aging and Retirement Across the Generations.” Both efforts provide important insights into what people say about financial priorities and debt across generations, and both confirm that debt is important in retirement planning. …Read More
More Americans are becoming self-employed as a result of growing entrepreneurial interests, a desire to enhance income, phased retirement, and tax advantages. Retirement security is crucially important for the self-employed.…Read More
Back in 2016, several of the main presidential candidates talked about raising Social Security benefits. But few dared talk about realistic suggestions about how to close the system’s existing shortfall, much less how to raise money to cover new benefits.…Read More
While Americans’ long-term financial security is essential, a target deserving of equal – if not more – attention has been overlooked, namely short-term financial security. A large number of U.S. households are financially fragile today, and their well-being as well as that of the entire economy rests on households’ capacity to deal with shocks.…Read More
As a phased retiree for 15 years, I’ve come to several conclusions about how to remain engaged post-retirement. Many of us want some type of work but not full-time; others seek work as independent contractors: and still others, as volunteers. Here I offer several lessons from experience.…Read More
Every single day from now until 2030, about 10,000 Baby Boomers turn 65. While this doesn’t mean we become instantly feeble on our birthday, it does mean that we must start planning ahead for things that will be much more difficult to handle later.…Read More
