GE plans to freeze defined benefit accruals of 20K workers and offer lump sum buyouts to 100K former employees, seeking to cut debt. This aligns GE with most larger US companies today as defined benefit pension plans grow rare, says Wharton’s Olivia S. Mitchell here. Image courtesy of…Read More
The Institute of Consumer Money Management recently announced a $2 million grant for studying the financial health of low and moderate income Americans near or in retirement. Prof. Mitchell, Dr. Robert Clark of North Carolina State University, and Dr. Annamaria Lusardi of George Washington University will be working together on…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
Poor financial capability in old age can have serious repercussions, causing people to make mistakes with credit, draw down retirement assets too quickly, and fall victim to financial predators.…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
Baby Boomer women – now in their 50’s and 60’s – are doing worse financially than older women in the 1990s. My new research with Professor Annamaria Lusardi explains why, using national representative survey data from the Health and Retirement Study and the National Financial Capability Study. We track changes in older women’s work plans and debt burdens, along with the links to financial literacy and debt stressors.…Read More
Today’s release of the latest National Financial Capability Study shows that we’re doing better protecting ourselves against financial emergencies than in the past. We’re also doing a better job cutting our high-interest debt than previously. Yet our personal finances, particularly the amount of debt we’re taking on, is still troubling.…Read More
Older women confront many retirement security challenges. For one thing, women live longer than do men, so their money must stretch farther. For another, many average fewer years in the paid workforce and, when they do work, their average pay is often lower. Additionally, they are more likely to work part-time, for a lower salary. These factors all translate into lower retirement accumulations, smaller retirement payouts, and higher poverty rates in old age, as reported in a recent Society of Actuaries 2014 study “Impact of Retirement Risk on Women.”…Read More
