Retirement
For people whose whole life has revolved around using their mind, retirement can be a bind. All of those degrees and awards, the presentation notes, the papers, the grand vision of achievement — all of that can gradually deteriorate once you walk out the door. Until, eventually, all you have left are crosswords for company […]
Shocking new statistics reinforce a basic truth of the world’s richest country: Many Americans are so far behind in retirement savings that they risk retiring flat broke. Studies show that 61% of Americans have less than $100,000 saved in a retirement plan and 42% of Americans have $10,000 or less. The Economic Policy Institute report also […]
In early May 2018, the Trump administration sent a letter to congressional leaders to propose over $143.5 billion in federal budget cuts. The staggering budget cut proposal amount would target the retirement funds of federal employees and follows a historic tax cut expected to balloon the deficit for years into the future. Not counting military […]
Elder abuse perpetrated by financial scams are on the rise, to the tune of about $37 billion dollars every year. According to a study by New York State’s Office of Children and Family Services, over 5 million senior citizens are victimized by financial scams. The study’s authors called the figure “grossly underestimated.” For every instance […]
According to a recent report, gold is expected to deliver an unprecedented price performance in 2018 and beyond. The Gold Survey 2018, published by the GFMS Metals Research, a unit of Thomson Reuters, says that uncertainty in the markets is fueling the yellow metal’s safe-haven character, leading to an increase in investments in gold bars […]
New studies have emerged that point to a severe shortage of doctors and other vital health workers is on the horizon for the United States. The first report, conducted by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), concluded that the United States will need to hire between 34,600 to 88,000 doctors by 2025 to adequately care for our […]
A report by Fidelity Investments reveals that a healthy couple retiring in 2018 need more than $280,000 to cover post-retirement medical expenses. That number is an increase of nearly 2% over 2017, when it was $275,000, yet the smallest increase in post-retirement medical expenses since 2014. The rising costs in post-retirement medical expenses can be […]
Thanks to overly optimistic projections and plain old politics, a number of U.S. states cannot keep up with pension payment promised to millions of public sector employees. From 2015 to 2016, the pension payout shortfall owed by states grew by more than $295 billion dollars, reports the Pew Charitable Trusts. Currently, most American states that owe pension […]
How much do we owe, on average? Enough for everyone to own a home in Kansas. A Federal Reserve survey found that Americans aged between 35 to 44 have more than $133,000 in personal debt. In 2017, the total debt Americans were burdened with topped $13 trillion dollars, more than half the size of national debt […]
Yield-starved investors once flocked to dividend-paying stocks. Now the tide appears to be turning. That could signal a recession, and soon. Given the relatively low coupon rates for high-grade bonds, retirement investment portfolios have been heavily weighted toward riskier equities. Many S&P 500 companies were paying generous dividends to their shareholders, making the shares of […]
