We’ve been hearing for years that the Social Security trust fund will run out of money in 2034, and a close reading of the Social Security Administration’s Trustee Report projections ( https://www.ssa.gov/oact/TRSUM/ ) show what this would mean. The Estimates By that time, based on estimates of the number of people earning an income […]
Buried in a recent report by Fidelity Investments was some remarkable news. Last summer, the mutual fund and retirement plan provider noted that there were more than a million people with more than $1 million in their 401(k) accounts. Then December hit, wiping out almost 20% of the value of the S&P 500 index, with […]
The Uneven Recovery of Americans After the Great Recession One of the consistent themes we’ve been hearing in the political arena is that the economy and stock markets are doing very well, and that we’ve finally recovered from the Great Recession. But recovery to market highs and the personal recovery from the losses experienced during […]
We’re Saving More Than We Realized Quick: What’s America’s national savings rate? A generation ago, you might have guessed 10% and been pretty close to the market. More recently, there has been a lot of hand-wringing about a precipitous decline in how much of their income Americans are saving—down, according to the U.S. government’s Bureau […]
DB Plan for All Few people have a defined benefit pension plan any more, thanks to the popularity of the 401(k). But the DB concept is simpler: a corporate annuity that pays out retirement income every year based on the amount contributed to the plan over the years. Yes, you can buy annuities on the […]
Deficit Funding Many were alarmed when, on June 5, the good people who run Medicare and Social Security released a report that said that the Medicare program will become insolvent in 2026 and Social Security will face a similar fate in 2034. The Medicare projection is three years earlier than the previous report, while the […]
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 […]
