Retirement

This week is America Saves Week, a time to focus on actions Americans can take to successfully save. When it comes to saving for retirement, Americans are feeling pessimistic. In a recent nationwide survey of working age Americans, 79 percent agree that the nation faces a retirement savings crisis, up from 67 percent in 2020.

By Patricia Corrigan, Next Avenue Rick Bulan was watching television in 1994 when he saw something he wanted: A 1,000-pound, 12.5-foot-long piece of deteriorating handrail removed from the iconic Golden Gate Bridge a year earlier. “I remember thinking it would make a cool headboard for a bed,” recalls Bulan, now 53. On impulse, he bought

It used to be that the worst fears about aging were getting cancer. Now, the worst fear is developing dementia. Unlike cancer, for which we do have treatments like surgery and chemotherapy, we have no equivalent treatments available yet for dementia. We can indeed manage and sometimes cure cancers. We can’t yet slow nor stop

By Erin Flynn Jay, Next Avenue Liz Elting was a 26-year-old graduate student in 1992 when she cofounded a business in her dorm room, a language-translation service that grew into a $1.1 billion company called TransPerfect. She cashed in her stake in 2018 but has no intention of retiring — and doesn’t think you should,

By Deborah Lynn Blumberg, Next Avenue The income Vivian Marlene Dunbar, age 75, earns as a freelance signature gatherer for ballot initiatives in California means she can afford groceries, pay medical bills and keep her car. Working as an independent contractor gives her the flexibility she wants and needs to schedule around doctors’ appointments. She

BlackRock BLK CEO Larry Fink issued his Annual Chairman’s Letter to Investors. Always a much-anticipated document, this year’s letter is titled “Time to rethink retirement.” Fink asks, “How do we afford longer lives?” and argues that we should at least start the conversation of when retirement should be in an era of increasing longevity and

It goes by many different names: semi-retirement, partial or phased retirement, second career, and so on. But typically, it means the same thing: working in some capacity after retiring early. According to the 2024 State of Retirement Planning Study by Fidelity Investments, the rise of remote and hybrid work has shifted retirement preferences for working

By Hanna Horvath, Next Avenue By the time most Americans enter retirement age, they want to be free from many financial burdens. But for a growing number of older adults, debt has become an unwelcome traveling companion. According to the Survey of Consumer Finances, the number of households headed by adults ages 65 or older

For the past four years, I’ve sent out a free, comprehensive retirement newsletter every Sunday. This labor of love includes three handpicked articles on retirement planning, along with general interest pieces on finance, health, and media. I also share links to valuable research tools and model portfolios from the week. You can check out the

Financial planning is less about knowing what to do and more about doing what we know. Sure, there are a myriad of complexities littered throughout the wealth management universe deserving our deliberation and calibration, but I’d be willing to bet that you are already aware of the following list of financial planning “shoulds,” right? You

By Edd and Cynthia Staton, Next Avenue As retirement approaches, you must face the question, “What is the best age for me to claim Social Security?” Experts declare that you should avoid taking reduced payments at age 62 unless you need the money immediately or have health issues that may shorten your lifespan. They almost

Suppose you’ve saved for a few decades in your 401(k) plan and IRA and you’re approaching retirement. How do you know if you’ve saved enough money? You might have heard you’ll need to save $1.46 million to have a comfortable retirement, based on a recent survey of 4,588 U.S. adults conducted by Northwestern Mutual. The

Years ago, people turning 65 would retire and enroll in Medicare. But that has changed. Today, more people are working longer. Pew Research Center reported that 19% of those age 65 and older were employed in 2023. That’s almost double the number who were still working 35 years ago. Medicare presents some challenges for these

In Part 1 of my response to Sen. Bernie Sanders and economist Teresa Ghilarducci, I explained why Sanders’ favorite and most compelling factoid – that nearly half of Americans approaching retirement have zero savings – is outright false, something Sanders should have known for years. But it’s not about a single factoid. In arguing that

Many of us in families with aging loved ones have had brushes with a mentally ill family member. As our medical system for addressing and treating mental illness is is clearly broken, the worst effects of these illnesses can wreak havoc as the parents age. When chronic mental illness is present, things can get frightening

In a letter to investors, Larry Fink, who is CEO of the massive investment firm Blackrock, warned that retirement “is a much harder proposition than it was 30 years ago. And it’ll be a much harder proposition 30 years from now.” One reason, he says: “As a society, we focus a tremendous amount of energy

There is a right and wrong age when it comes to filing for Social Security benefits. The key to determining the right age for you is accurately analyzing your situation, understanding all your claiming options, and deciding which strategy is the best for you in relation to your overall financial planning. Never make this decision

The Federal Reserve recently released new household data in two related data sources that tell an encouraging story about household wealth and its distribution. Household wealth has substantially increased during the pandemic – from December 2019 to December 2023. All income groups have seen similar rates of change in their wealth. Those gains reflect broad

John Bogle once said index funds would never compromise more than half of the total mutual fund market. That was years ago. Morningstar MORN recently reported the total value of passively managed funds has surpassed actively managed mutual fund assets. Some are expecting index funds to top 70% of total mutual fund assets within the

John Bogle once said index funds would never compromise more than half of the total mutual fund market. That was years ago. Morningstar MORN recently reported the total value of passively managed funds has surpassed actively managed mutual fund assets. Some are expecting index funds to top 70% of total mutual fund assets within the