Retirement

America’s Elderly Are Twice as Likely to Work Now Than in 1985

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By Bloomberg – Re-Blogged From Newsmax

Just as single-income families began to vanish in the last century, many of America’s elderly are now forgoing retirement for the same reason: They don’t have enough money.

Rickety social safety nets, inadequate retirement savings plans and sky high health-care costs are all conspiring to make the concept of leaving the workforce something to be more feared than desired.

For the first time in 57 years, the participation rate in the labor force of retirement-age workers has cracked the 20 percent mark, according to a new report from money manager United Income.

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Half of Older Americans Have Saved Nothing for Retirement

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By Bloomberg – Re-Blogged From Newsmax

The bad news is that almost half of Americans approaching retirement have nothing saved in a 401(k) or other individual account. The good news is that the new estimate, from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, is slightly better than a few years earlier.

Of those 55 and older, 48 percent had nothing put away in a 401(k)-style defined contribution plan or an individual retirement account, according to a GAO estimate for 2016 that was released Tuesday. That’s an improvement from the 52 percent without retirement money in 2013.

Half of Older Americans Have Saved Nothing for Retirement
(motortion/Dreamstime)

Pyramids Of Crisis

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By John Mauldin – Re-Blogged From Silver Phoenix

In an increasingly divided world, we all share one great desire: self-preservation. Not just humans, either. The survival instinct exists in almost every living thing. Humans simply have greater ability to do something about it.

In fact, we have been doing something about it for many thousands of years. An inverted pyramid of geniuses and giants, modern medicine, nutrition, sanitation, and assorted other innovations has extended our lifespans and helped more of us live to ripe old ages. That’s wonderful… but it’s also a problem many of us still don’t fully understand.

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Public Pensions Could Become Retirement Crisis for Everyone

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By Peter Reagan – Re-Blogged From Newsmax

It’s become fairly common knowledge that public pensions are on the verge of either radical overhaul or extinction.

Worldwide, pensions are set to reach a shortfall of $400 trillion. This is a larger amount than 20 of the world’s largest economies, according to Sovereign Man.

It was even reported that Congress is planning for pension fund failure in the U.S. Not to mention, Philadelphia has considered tapping public utility payments to cover their shortfall.

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Americans Are Retiring Later, Dying Sooner

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By Bloomberg – Re-Blogged From Newsmax.

The U.S. retirement age is rising, as the government pushes it higher and workers stay in careers longer.

But lifespans aren’t necessarily extending to offer equal time on the beach. Data released last week suggest Americans’ health is declining and millions of middle-age workers face the prospect of shorter, and less active, retirements than their parents enjoyed.

Here are the stats: The U.S. age-adjusted mortality rate—a measure of the number of deaths per year—rose 1.2 percent from 2014 to 2015, according to the Society of Actuaries. That’s the first year-over-year increase since 2005, and only the second rise greater than 1 percent since 1980.

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Impact Of The National Debt On Our Retirements

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By Daniel Amerman – Re-Blogged From http://www.Silver-Phoenix500.com

In this analysis we will take a look at something deeply personal – which is how the $20 trillion United States national debt may change the day-to-day quality of life for savers and retirees in the decades ahead. That is likely a somewhat unusual perspective for many savers and investors.

On the one hand, we have what are often thought of as abstract economic concepts – such as how large will the national debt be in 10 or 20 years? How will Federal Reserve actions to increase interest rates change future government deficits and debts?

On the other hand, we have something that is typically presented as being entirely different, which is individual financial planning. What are the savings and investment choices that we need to make today that will help determine what our standard of living may be in retirement 10, 20 or 30 years from now?

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