Many defined benefit pensions and investment companies are seeking sustainable investment options, while defined contribution plans lag behind, says Catherine Reilly.…Read More
Defined Contribution Pensions Left Behind
longevity
Will the SECURE Act Open the Dam for Longevity Annuities?
Though favored by academics and policymakers, annuities are less popular than other retirement plan options. Yet the recent SECURE Act may change that, according to Matt Carey.…Read More
The End of Retirement
Workers are living longer and electing to work longer, so retirement as a concept is becoming outdated for many. Employers must encourage us to remain engaged & offer flexible work options, explains Wharton Prof. Olivia S. Mitchell to John D. Stoll at the Wall Street Journal.…Read More
SECURE Act Update
Professor Olivia S. Mitchell contends that deferred lifetime annuities encouraged by the SECURE Act will protect retirees from longevity risk: see here at the Philadelphia Inquirer and our paper here.
The Problem With Bonds in a Retirement Portfolio
Nobody knows how long they’ll live, which makes bonds a more risky prospect for retirees’ long term planning. Benjamin Harris cites work by Vanya Horneff, Raimond Maurer and Wharton’s Olivia S. Mitchell showing the advantage of putting 10% of 401(k) wealth into deferred annuities instead.…Read More
Do People’s Longevity Expectations Shape Their Key Financial Decisions?
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
Planning For Success At Older Ages
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
How Can Family Fit Into Your Retirement Plans?
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
Recalibrating Retirement In The 21st Century
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
Putting The Pension Back Into Retirement
Defined contribution plans – often known as 401k plans – have become the mainstay of US company pensions, yet their main function has been to get employees to save and invest during their work years. These plans haven’t been successful at delivering lifetime income benefits, as a rule: fewer than one-fifth of all such plans today help workers convert their plan assets into retirement paychecks.…Read More