The Cost of Waiting The median retirement portfolio account balance for persons age 56-61 is just $25,000—which is obviously not enough for a healthy retirement, and suggests that many Americans followed less-than-healthy savings habits. In fact, this amount could have been accumulated simply by saving $6 a month in a 60/40 portfolio from 1980 to […]
Social Security, Where Budget Cuts Lead to Terrible Service These days, trying to apply for Social Security benefits, or getting straight answers about what your best claiming strategy might be, is frustrating at best. Recently, Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, illustrated the problem in vivid […]
Medicare’s Future Several items that everybody seems to be overlooking in the recent budget deal signed by President Trump are potentially-significant changes to how Medicare is administered. First on the list is the elimination of Medicare’s independent payment advisory board, authorized under the Affordable Care Act to serve as a check on higher […]
Gender Differences—In Retirement You may have read that women are far more likely to face poverty in retirement than their male counterparts—but you may not realize just how big the disparity is. In fact, women are 80% more likely to fall into poverty toward the end of their lives, compared to men, according to a […]
Probably the most forgotten minority in America is the “elder orphans”—aging retirees who no longer have a spouse (if they ever had one), no kids and no caregiver. According to The Gerontologist magazine, about one-third of 45 to 63-year-olds are single, and most of them never married or are divorced. Meanwhile, about 15% of 40-44-year-old […]
The number of Americans in or nearing retirement who are still holding significant mortgage, auto, even student loan debt has been rising in recent years. According to recent data released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the average 65-year-old borrower has 47% more mortgage debt and 29% more auto debt than 65-year-olds had […]
How long might you live in retirement? Think carefully. Your answer could influence whether you have enough money for a comfortable retirement or just scrape by. According to pension mortality tables, at least one member of a 65-year-old couple has a 72% chance of living to age 85 and a 45% chance of living to […]
