Retirement Education

Like most of us, chances are years ago you imagined the ideal age you would stop working and start living your dream retirement. A new study reveals that the answer to “what’s the optimal retirement age” depends on the age of the person you ask.

Bankrate.com surveyed Americans of different generations. While each had its own idea of the ideal retirement age, on average those surveyed believe the best age to retire to be 61.

Gen Xers and Millennials chose 61 and 60, respectively, as their ideal ages. Baby boomers (ages 64-72) and the silent generation (age 73+), possibly making a more seasoned estimate of the optimal retirement age, chose age 64 to 65.

Everyone wants to retire comfortably, especially after years of hard work. But age forecasting isn’t necessarily the best way to approach this. Just-as-critical questions to ask (if not more so) are: “What income do I want to retire at?” and “What financial resources will I need to enjoy my preferred lifestyle?” Read More

What do you plan to do the first day you actually retire? Plan that dream trip? Write that first page of your novel? Explore new opportunities to partake in hobbies or other interests? Just take a deep breath and learn to relax?

If you are like most of the retirees surveyed in the 2018 Retirement Preparedness Study, your retirement years may look a lot like your working years.

Or, at least, that is what working-age Americans foresee for their retirement futures. Commissioned by PGIM Investments and conducted by The Harris Poll, the study found that 52% of pre-retiree baby boomers expect to have a full-time or part-time job during retirement.

This finding is in sharp contrast to the lifestyle of current retirees, with only 6% of them working for a paycheck. Pre-retiree Gen Xers are even more convinced they will need to work in retirement, according to the study, as a substantial 58% responded this way. Read More

If you are gearing up for retirement, chances are you have seen the headlines. Earlier this June, the trustees of Social Security and Medicare published their annual reviews of both programs. And, at first glance, their news isn’t good.

The trustees acknowledged the programs face funding challenges. But that is a far cry from them being completely emptied. Even so, it wasn’t long before the Internet was flooded with alarmist headlines on the outlooks for Medicare and Social Security. As we will see in a bit, even some prominent news organizations had a few of the critical details wrong.

Like many people, you may have thought at some point: “Will Medicare and Social Security be there when I retire?” It’s a legitimate question, especially considering how you have paid into these program funds for your entire working life.

Let’s try to get to the bottom of these worries—and clear up some confusion—by consulting the latest research and findings on the one issue that affects every American who plans to retire one day. Read More

Editor’s Note: This is Part 2 of a two-part series on retirement risks that we should definitely plan for. For more information on retirement money mishaps and how you can enjoy a comfortable retirement lifestyle, you may find helpful answers in The New Retirement Report. 

In the first half of this series, we discussed 5 of the 10 Retirement Risks you need to plan for. With apologies to the Late Night Show and Late Show, no Top 10 List would be complete with a stop at the halfway point. So, without further ado…. Here are 5 other retirement risks that retired and working-age investors should definitely heed.

As you read through this list, you may want to consider the strategies your plan has to manage these risks. If you are unsure or would like more confidence in your plan, a retirement-knowledgeable financial professional can help you. Their guidance can help identify potential financial gaps, clarify your needs, and solve for those shortcomings. Read More

Editor’s Note: This is Part 1 of a two-part series on retirement risks that we should definitely plan for. For more information on potential retirement money mistakes and how you can enjoy a comfortable retirement lifestyle, you may find helpful answers in The New Retirement Report. You can find Part 2 of this series here. 

Top Ten Lists were a signature of David Letterman’s Late Night and Late Show legacies. Now that he’s 70, if Letterman were to prepare such a list today, it might look something like this: “The Top Ten Retirement Risks I Didn’t See Coming, But Should Have.”

While three decades on TV may give Dave the aplomb to tackle top retirement risks with more leniency, this isn’t the case for everybody. Not everyone can be blasé about what they face as they enter and move through retirement. To help you look ahead—and plan accordingly—we offer these Top Ten Retirement Risks You CAN See Coming. Read More

When you begin claiming your Social Security benefits is one of the most important decisions you will make. Knowing when to start your benefits—and when not to—could mean thousands of more dollars to you, and your surviving spouse, when you could use the income the most.

But with so many claiming possibilities, when is the right time? 

You probably have heard arguments for claiming early and waiting. That being said, it pays off to understand the break-even ages for Social Security benefits, their impact, and how different claiming ages may compare. Read More

Good news! Next year, Social Security beneficiaries will get their biggest raise since 2012. The Social Security Administration reports that monthly benefits will receive a 2% Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) in 2018.

For the average retiree, the increase amounts to around $27 extra a month. For the year, it adds up to an extra $324 in benefit payments. Social Security beneficiaries will see increased payments in January 2018, while increased payments for SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 29, 2017.

While this is welcome news, another development may offset the increased benefits for retirees. Many retirees actually may see little or no increase in payments. Most beneficiaries have Medicare Part B premiums taken from their Social Security. For those who have benefited from the “hold harmless” provision of Medicare law in recent years, Medicare may eat into some or all of the raise.

Let’s get more into the details of this now. Read More

According to MagnifyMoney, people are carrying more than goal checklists into retirement. A recent analysis by them looked at data from the University of Michigan Retirement Research Center (MRRC) Health and Retirement Study. Their results found that more Americans are shouldering debt in their 50s and over.

It’s a serious finding, given that Americans have named mortgages and other debts among their top five money concerns. In the study, MRRC researchers survey over 20,000 Americans aged 50+ on many topics of financial well-being. This publication showed survey results from 2014.

MagnifyMoney found a number of debt trends that could undermine, or even cripple, the retirement goals of numerous Americans. Let’s look at how debt is affecting older Americans and their post-work lives. Read More

As far as financial security goes, when thinking of retirement, it’s important to consider the safety of your financial portfolio.

Do you have reliable income streams in place for retirement, whether for a set period or life? Is there enough liquidity in your assets to allow you to retire comfortably? Is enough of your money safe and put in secure, dependable places? Do you have an appropriate financial strategy for combating the the impact of inflation, high-ticket expenses like long-term care, and other costly retirement risks?

All of this brings us to a discussion on building a dependable safety net and how to make sure that you can answer these questions with confidence. Read More

Time and again, we are told of the importance of having an emergency fund. It makes sense, especially for retirement. After all, retirees are likely to have unexpected costs creep up, just like everyone else does. But according to a BankRate survey, even a small unexpected expense could be a struggle for many households.   

In the survey, nearly 60% didn’t have enough savings to pay for emergency expenses. Almost half (45%) said they or immediate family had incurred a major emergency expense in the last 12 months. Among high-income households and college graduates, nearly half lacked enough savings to handle emergency costs.

While emergency expenses can affect anyone, they may create harmful setbacks for retired households. Many retirees live on a fixed income. Without the fallback of healthy earned income, like that in the working years, they could find unexpected expenses to be disruptive. All of this underscores the practical wisdom of having financial cushioning for emergencies.

So, what’s a target amount to have in an emergency fund? And what are some ways you can build up emergency reserves? Here’s a quick look at some strategies. Read More