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Archive for category Retirement

Parents Dip Into Retirement Funds To Pay For College

Sep 2

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Parents typically use their current income and college savings accounts to pay for their children’s college costs. But families who haven’t saved enough are increasingly cracking open their nest eggs to help pay tuition bills.

Some 6 percent of parents withdrew money from a 401(k) or IRA to help cover college costs in 2010, up from 3 percent in 2009, according to a Sallie Mae and Gallup survey of 801 college students age 18 to 24 and 823 parents of college students. The average amount withdrawn from retirement accounts jumped from $5,318 in 2009 to $8,554 this year.

IRAs, but not 401(k) plans, can be used to pay for higher education expenses including tuition, fees, and books without having to pay the usual 10 percent early withdrawal penalty.
usnews.com

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France firm on raising retirement despite protests

Sep 2

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(AP)

PARIS — Massive street protests planned for next week won’t dent the French government’s resolve to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62, the labor minister said Thursday.

Unions plan demonstrations and strikes Tuesday and have urged private and public sector employees, the jobless, young people and retirees to join.

The government expects a strong turnout and respects the people’s right to take to the streets, Labor Minister Eric Woerth said.
hostednews/ap

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Retiree gives out euro coins to celebrate retirement

Sep 1

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(AFP)

BERLIN — A German man celebrated his first day of retirement by handing out one-euro coins to passers-by in the quiet town of Aschaffenburg, near Frankfurt, police said Wednesday.

Dressed in a suit, the man wore a sign around his neck that read: “I am not unemployed, nor homeless. I am married. I am doing fine. That’s why I wish to offer you an euro.”
hostednews/afp

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When retirement isn’t voluntary

Sep 1

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By Linda Stern
WASHINGTON

(Reuters) – The conventional wisdom offered to all pre-retirees these days is: Wait! Work as long as possible, defer your Social Security benefits (so they’ll grow) and your precious 401(k) withdrawals.

But that’s not always possible, is it? In fact, many people get involuntarily retired before they are ready, especially in a recession. When older folks get laid off, it can be harder for them to find another job, the illegality of age discrimination notwithstanding.

The average duration of unemployment is 34.2 weeks, according to the Labor Department. But workers over 55 are currently out of work for an average of 41 weeks. And while the unemployment rate for those over 55 is, at 6.9 percent, lower than the 9.5 percent overall unemployment rate, that’s not because older workers are so employable. It’s because they give up. The AARP says 97 percent of older workers who are unemployed aren’t even looking for a new job.
reuters.com

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Market Turmoil To Stall Retirement

Aug 31

Posted by Boomer in Economy, Retirement | No Comments

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

The latest quarterly retirement survey from Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) shows more than half of Americans approaching retirement age expecting to retire debt-free and nearly 90% plan to keep working.

The tally, done by Kelton Research in July, polled people ages 50 to 60. It comes amid a rollicking several years in the markets and economy at large, with many American fearing they would outlive savings and need to work years later than planned to afford retirement.

But the latest survey showed 54% not expecting to delay their planned retirement despite the economy, while 38% said they expected to retire later than anticipated.
wsj.com

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Three Alternatives to Raiding Your 401(k)

Aug 30

Posted by Boomer in Economy, Retirement | No Comments

Edited By NIKKI WALLER

Americans are pulling money out of retirement accounts early.

During the second quarter, 62,000 of the 11 million workers using 401(k) plans provided through Fidelity Investments began the process of taking out a hardship withdrawal, up from 45,000 during the first quarter, according to a recent study from the retirement-plan provider.

The most common reasons cited: The money was needed to stave off an eviction or foreclosure, to pay college tuition or to buy a home.

Financial advisers say they are noticing a similar trend in individual retirement accounts, and they recommend that investors weigh a few alternatives before raiding their retirement vehicles.
online.wsj.com

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Boomer retirement will Be spread out

Aug 20

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They won’t all stop working on their 65th birthday

BY JONATHAN CHEVREAU, FINANCIAL POST

Based on current investment returns, three in five baby boomers won’t have enough money to retire, U.S. media reported this week. But headlines warning this is a “threat” to a still-fragile economy are, in my view, misplaced.

The “three in five” headlines were based on an estimate that 59% of boomers aged 56 to 62 may not have enough money to cover basic living and health-care costs. That assumed current average bond yields around 2.4% and stock returns of 6%. Even if bond yields reach 6.3% and stocks 8.9%, 47% would remain at risk.

This coverage resembles that old chestnut about boomers crashing the stock market when they all retire en masse. I’ve never bought into that. First, since they were born between 1946 and 1964, viewed purely demographically their retirements would be staggered over 18 years, assuming they all stopped working on their 65th birthdays.
vancouversun.com

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Retirement at 62 boosts well-being

Aug 17

Posted by Boomer in Health, Retirement | No Comments

Physical and emotional benefits to retiring on the early side

By Bruce Bower

ATLANTA — People who retire at or near age 62 receive a welcome but somewhat surprising benefit — a greater relative increase in physical and emotional well-being than those who retire at earlier or later ages, Esteban Calvo of Boston College reported August 15 at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association.

Intriguingly, that’s the age at which U.S. citizens become eligible to receive partial Social Security benefits, Calvo noted. Retirements that occur at culturally and institutionally expected ages yield large dividends in well-being, he suggested.

“This isn’t good news for the Social Security Administration,” Calvo said. Officials there would prefer aging baby boomers to pay into Social Security until at least age 67, when full benefits kick in, he noted.
sciencenews.org

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The Retirement Process

Aug 12

Posted by Boomer in Retirement | No Comments

By Linda Stern

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Many workers and financial companies talk about retirement as if it’s a day on which everything changes. The day you retire is the day you need X amount in the bank, an annuity, a Social Security check and an old person’s portfolio, they suggest. It’s the day you’re done: with work, with commuting, with consuming and more.

But that’s far from the truth. For most people, retirement isn’t a day, it’s a process. You may lose a job and spent time seeking a second one before realizing you just got retired, involuntarily. Or you may leave a 9-to-5 government job and keep tinkering with an eBay business or other hobby. You may stop working one day, but wait several years before collecting Social Security benefits.
abcnews.go.com

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