BoomerUpdate
News and Resources for Boomers
Boomers Will Need to Tap Home Equity, not Bequeath It
Mar 11th
By Carla Fried
So much for leaving the house to the kids. According to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, more and more Americans will need to use their home as a retirement ATM, wiping out a key component of many estate/inheritance plans.
For the first time ever, the National Retirement Risk Index compiled by the CRR@BC shows that post-crash more than half of Americans may not be able to maintain their standard of living in retirement. The CRR researchers define “at risk” as anyone whose projected retirement income will fall at least 10 percent short of supporting their pre-retirement income.
bnet.com
Your Retirement Funds to Bail Out Failed Banks?
Mar 10th
With the recent spotlight on a runaway Prius, few are paying attention to the latest government plan to bail out failing banks with retirement money.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., according to Bloomberg, now thinks it’s a good idea for public retirement funds over about $2 trillion to be slated to “buy out all or part of failed lenders.”
Last year alone, the FDIC reportedly shut down close to 150 banks, and it expects even more banks to fail this year. But a quick look at how the largest companies, like General Motors, are currently investing their employees’ pension funds is guaranteed to make a shiver up and down the spine of every working American. And, two things become clear: 1) your pension funds are at risk, and 2) any bank that depends upon your pension fund is also at risk.
huffingtonpost.com
Double the Odds of Seeing 85
Mar 9th
When It Comes to Longevity, Regular Exercise May Be the Most Potent Weapon Against Disease
By RON WINSLOW
The leading edge of the baby boom generation turns 65 next year, which means a new milestone looms on the horizon: age 85.
So what do boomers need to do not just to survive to 85, but to live healthy lives into old age and not break the bank at the federal Medicare program?
The most important strategy, according to the latest research to look at the question, is to be physically active in middle age. “If you are fit in mid-life, you double your chance of surviving to 85,” says Jarett Berry, a cardiologist at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
Put another way: If you’re not fit in your 50s, your projected life span “is eight years shorter than if you are fit,” Dr. Berry says.
wsj.com
Many women avoid calling 911
Mar 8th
By Kim Painter, USA TODAY
If you think you are having symptoms of a heart attack or stroke, the best thing to do is to:
• Lie down for a while and see if you feel better.
• Call a friend or family member to see what they think.
• Call your doctor’s office.
• Drive yourself to an emergency room.
• Have someone else drive you.
• Call 911.
People do all of the above, but calling 911 is the best choice by far, experts say. The emergency medical technicians who respond are trained to assess and treat patients right away. They also provide the quickest route through hospital doors and into the hands of doctors and nurses at a time when mere minutes can determine life or death, recovery or lasting disability.
But the simple message to “call 911″ clearly needs more attention. The latest evidence: Just over half of women surveyed by the American Heart Association said they would do so if they thought they were having a heart attack.
usatoday.com
Forget the prophets of doom – I’m proud to be a baby boomer
Mar 8th
The world is a happier place thanks to my generation, and the next will look after itself, says Boris Johnson.
By Boris Johnson
Oh the shame of being a baby boomer. What a bunch of shysters we seem to be.
We are the most selfish, greedy, job-hogging, pension-grabbing bunch of egomaniacs history has ever seen. Here we are, cackling to ourselves in our overpriced homes and exploiting our political power to shaft the younger generation. We use our demographic throw-weight to skew the welfare system in our favour and above all we are squandering the natural resources of the planet. You know that Goya picture of the giant eating a naked human being?
That’s us, all right – Saturn devouring his children. Or at least, that is the portrait presented by my brilliant old friend and colleague David Willetts in his new book, The Pinch, which has been received with rapture by one and all. You can see his point. We baby boomers – those of us born in the great bulge of fecundity in the Fifties and Sixties – have had it easy. We are the ones whose extravagant pension entitlements must now be met by our kids.
telegraph.co.uk
Earlier Retirement: Beating Back the High Fees
Mar 7th
By ELEANOR LAISE
Jeff Powelson knows how tough it is to fight for lower fees in a 401(k) retirement plan. He tried to get his employer to add lower-cost investment options to its plan in late 2008. He failed. But when he switched jobs last year, the 27-year-old took one look at his new, pricey 401(k) plan and decided to try again.
This time, Mr. Powelson, a controller at a Washington corporate foreign-exchange firm, is winning the fight. After he lobbied for months, his employer Tempus Consulting plans to replace its plan’s higher-cost actively managed funds with cheaper index-tracking funds. “At companies our size, you don’t have someone devoted 24 hours a day to these human-resource things,” says Keinan Ashkenazi, a co-owner and principal at Tempus. Mr. Powelson “was able to take it by the horns and really look at it.”
When it comes to 401(k) plans, Mr. Powelson says, “I am rather passionate.”
wsj.com