Many Boomers currently in their 50s, 60s, and 70s confront crucial decisions about the next steps for their careers and post-career activities. Some seek new conventional job opportunities; others want a new active life that follows a different script; and yet others choose a traditional retirement path. While younger people often have well-established ideas about career planning, those of us in later life stages are often unclear about next steps.…Read More
Three key factors contribute to the quality of life at older ages: sound financial resources, good health, and social interactions. In-depth interviews with U.S. and Canadian older retirees as well as their adult children offer new insights into how these factors shape the lives of older people.…Read More
Recently some analysts have queried: why do so few Americans participate in their pension plans? For this purpose, the pension participation rates, or the fraction of employees who either contribute to a defined contribution (DC) plan or are covered by a defined benefit (DB) plan, is often used as a key performance metric for the U.S. voluntary employer plan system.…Read More
Though often overlooked, inflation strongly determines how well retirees fare over several decades in retirement. For this reason, people must learn and think carefully about how their Social Security claiming age decision is shaped by inflation.…Read More
Since 2000, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) coordinated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OEDC) has assessed the reading, math, and science knowledge of 15-year-olds around the world every three years. More recently, since 2012, the program has also measured teen’s financial literacy. The latest findings just released by the OECDs provided small – but consequential – reasons for celebration.…Read More
The extended family is an important part of retirement planning for many Americans. Indeed, in the past, family members frequently helped fill in gaps when people grew older. Yet today, people increasingly reach their senior years with few — or no — family members who can help. I believe that family concerns are often given inadequate consideration in retirement planning, and this article offers some facts and ideas to consider.…Read More
This spring, my son was given the popular “egg drop” science assignment. Several weeks before it was due, he discussed elaborate ideas and hoped that his egg would remain intact for extra credit. Yet, at the same time, the deadline was enough in the distant future that he felt no urgency to begin testing his ideas.…Read More
Concerns are growing about how to best manage risk in retirement. Traditional defined benefit plans can impart considerable risk to employers, while 401(k)-type plans place all or most risk on employees.…Read More
In the world of financial advice, we are seeing a welcome trend toward goals-based investing. This trend puts a greater focus on the goals that investors want to achieve with their savings —such as retirement security, paying for college or purchasing a house — and uses these goals to drive investment strategy and monitor progress.…Read More
The dirge is growing louder: financial gurus warn that market returns will be low for some time to come, and not just U.S. stocks and bonds, but foreign returns as well. One forecast argued that average stock returns would be 1.5-4.0 percentage points per year below their 30-year average, and bonds may do 3 to 5 percentage points worse.…Read More
