retirement – Impact Lab

Housing, Latest Trend, New Viewpoints, Science & Technology News

Retirement villages have had their day: Baby boomers are rethinking retirement

May 26, 2020

By 2030 all baby boomers will have turned 65 and Generation X will start their contribution to the expanding older cohort.

Retirement villages — walled, gated and separate seniors’ enclaves — have had their day.

The word “retirement” is redundant and engagement between people of all ages is high. That’s how participants in the Longevity By Design Challenge envisage life in Australia in 2050.

Their challenge was to identify ways to prepare and adapt Australian cities to capitalise on older Australians living longer, healthier and more productive lives. Their vision, outlined in this article, offers a positive contrast to much of the commentary on “ageing Australia”.

We have been repeatedly warned about a looming “crisis” when by 2050 one in four Australians will be 65 or older. They have been portrayed as dependent non-contributors, unable to take care of themselves.

This scenario of doom is based on underlying assumptions that everyone over 65 wants to, can or should stop any kind of productive contribution to Australia.

Continue reading… “Retirement villages have had their day: Baby boomers are rethinking retirement”

Big Problems, Coronavirus, Employment, Science & Technology News

Here comes the retirement crisis, coronavirus-style

May 4, 2020

Will COVID-19 deepen the retirement crisis? Yes and no — here’s how

The coronavirus crisis may worsen an already impending retirement crisis.

Remember when Americans struggled to save for retirement because they were juggling high housing costs, student loan payments, credit card debt and scanty access to workplace savings? Add in a global pandemic, record unemployment and an economic lockdown. How’s that for a retirement crisis?

The coronavirus poses a threat to many Americans’ health and current financial well-being, but it also has the potential to derail an individual’s future retirement security.

Many Americans were already underprepared for retirement, not having saved enough for their futures by the time they were ready to leave the workforce. The global pandemic may make it even harder to afford to retire. In the past four weeks alone, 22 million U.S. workers have filed for unemployment benefits, and people without jobs are not able to contribute to their workplace investment accounts, nor do they have any extra money to put away. People may also have to take distributions or loans from their retirement plans, which lowers their potential returns in the long-run.

Continue reading… “Here comes the retirement crisis, coronavirus-style”

Big Problems, Employment, Money Talk, Science & Technology News

The retirement crisis is real and frightening, as these six charts show

December 17, 2019

An uncertain retirement may be lurking just over that ridge.(Dennis Curran)

Is the “retirement crisis” just a scare story? That’s what conservatives would like you to believe as they rail against proposals from progressives in Congress to expand and increase Social Security.

Andrew Biggs, a former Social Security official, wrote recently in the conservative National Review that there’s no need to expand Social Security benefits because “Americans’ retirement incomes and retirement savings have never been stronger.”

That may be true, in the aggregate. But the question is: whose retirement incomes and savings? Monique Morrissey of the labor-supported Economic Policy Institute presents evidence that, just as income inequality for those in their working years has soared, so has inequality in the distribution of retirement resources.

The trends…paint a picture of increasingly inadequate retirement savings for successive generations of Americans—and large disparities by income, race, ethnicity, education, and marital status.

Continue reading… “The retirement crisis is real and frightening, as these six charts show”

Analysis, Big Problems, Hot Issues, Money Talk, Science & Technology News

The writing on the wall: America’s retirement crisis by the numbers

July 26, 2019

Thousands of Americans are at risk of going broke in retirement, and it’s only going to get worse.

These days, overwhelming student loan debt and the uncertain future of Social Security’s solvency garner most of the attention, but there’s another equally severe financial crisis looming on the horizon for millions of Americans. Thousands of people retire every day, and many don’t have the savings they need to last the rest of their lives.

When that well runs dry, they’ll need to lean on their family members to support them or seek government assistance to cover their basic living expenses. It’s a fate thousands of Americans are already experiencing, and based on data from the latest Northwestern Mutual Planning & Progress survey, tens of thousands more are set to join them in the coming decades.

Continue reading… “The writing on the wall: America’s retirement crisis by the numbers”

Employment, Latest Trend, Money Talk, Science & Technology News

1 in 4 Americans have no plans to retire

July 20, 2019

CHICAGO — Nearly one-quarter of Americans say they never plan to retire, according to a poll that suggests a disconnection between individuals’ retirement plans and the realities of aging in the workforce.

Experts say illness, injury, layoffs and caregiving responsibilities often force older workers to leave their jobs sooner than they’d like.

According to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 23% of workers, including nearly 2 in 10 of those over 50, don’t expect to stop working. Roughly another quarter of Americans say they will continue working beyond their 65th birthday.

Continue reading… “1 in 4 Americans have no plans to retire”

Analysis, Money Talk, Science & Technology News

Exactly how much it will cost you to retire well in every state in America

July 10, 2019

A comfortable retirement doesn’t come cheap.

While you may hear stories of people retiring on as little as $2,000 a month, the reality for most of us is likely to be much different. Indeed, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average over-65 household will spend nearly $50,000 a year. The biggest chunk of that is on housing at more than $16,000 a year, but health care is high on the list too (about $6,600), as is transportation ($7,500) and groceries ($3,815). (Of course, people who have paid off their mortgage can dramatically slash this amount, and there are other ways to save as well.)

What’s more, the annual spending for the over-65 set in some states is likely to be far higher, according to an analysis by personal finance site GoBankingRates.com. The analysis looked at consumption expenditures of Americans aged 65 and older for items like groceries, housing (includes utilities and housekeeping), transportation, health care and more; it then adjusted those figures to every state’s itemized cost of living index, and added an additional 20% savings buffer (so you can retire comfortably).

Continue reading… “Exactly how much it will cost you to retire well in every state in America”

Life Skills, Money Talk, Report, Science & Technology News

There’s a retirement crisis in America where most will be unable to afford a ‘solid life’

April 10, 2019

The three “legs” of the retirement “stool” (private savings, pensions, and Social Security) are all in dire shape.

At Vanguard, the median 401(k) account value for an investor age 65 and older is a measly $58,035.

After looking at the data, the Saint Louis Fed concluded: “It could be worrisome that, for many American households, the total balances of their retirement accounts may not be sufficient to ensure a solid life in retirement.”

Continue reading… “There’s a retirement crisis in America where most will be unable to afford a ‘solid life’”

Big Problems, Employment, Science & Technology News

Baby boomers upend the workforce one last time

March 10, 2019

As older workers look to retire, companies reckon with how to replace departing skill sets

Baby boomers are entering their final years in the workforce, and their relationships with their employers are changing. Some companies are considering offering older workers partial-year employment and shorter hours.The youngest baby boomers are around 55 years old. The oldest are in their 70s. MostAmericans don’t remember a workforce without the largest generation.

And yet, as boomers enter their final years in the workforce, their retirements are taking companies by surprise.

In the next five years, almost three-quarters of the companies surveyed in 2018 by Willis Towers Watson, a risk-management and insurance brokerage company, expect to face significant or moderate challenges from late retirements. But because nothing is predictable, a significant share are also worried about early ones.

Continue reading… “Baby boomers upend the workforce one last time”

Future, Human Behavior, Life Skills, Money Talk, Science & Technology News

Should we retire ‘Retirement’?

February 21, 2019

As our lives have been getting longer and healthier – compared to prior generations – some people advocate doing away with the concept of retirement altogether. In support of that idea, increasing numbers of workers report in surveys that they expect never to retire, and not just because they can’t afford to but often because they like the idea of continuing to work.

While I celebrate people who are trying to break stereotypes, I respectfully disagree with those who advocate eliminating the concept of retirement altogether. Let’s take a look at recent trends that might have inspired the “no retirement” point-of-view and consider an alternative perspective.

Continue reading… “Should we retire ‘Retirement’?”

Analysis, Big Problems, Healthcare

The doctor is out? Why physicians are leaving their practices to pursue other careers

August 22, 2018

“After 20 years, I quit medicine and none of my colleagues were surprised. In fact, they all said they wish they could do the same,” said one doctor.

The Association of American Medical Colleges projects a shortage of 42,600 to 121,300 physicians by 2030.

The news that New York University will offer free tuition to all its medical school students, in the hope of encouraging more doctors to choose lower-paying specialties, offered hope to those wishing to pursue a career in the field.

However, becoming a doctor remains one of the most challenging career paths you can embark upon. It requires extensive (and expensive) schooling followed by intensive residencies before you’re fully on your feet. The idea, generally, is that all the hard work will pay off not only financially, but also in terms of job satisfaction and work-life balance; then there’s the immeasurable personal benefits of helping people, and possibly even saving lives. In terms of both nobility and prestige, few occupations rank as high.

Continue reading… “The doctor is out? Why physicians are leaving their practices to pursue other careers”

Business, Economy, Employment

A record number of folks age 85 and older are working. Here’s what they’re doing

July 7, 2018

Bob Blocksom, 87, is interested in becoming a truck driver to help pay for medical expenses for his wife.

Seventy may be the new 60, and 80 may be the new 70, but 85 is still pretty old to work. Yet in some ways, this is the era of the very old worker in America.

Overall, 255,000 Americans 85 years old and over were working over the last 12 months. That’s 4.4% of Americans that age — up from 2.6% in 2006, before the recession. It’s the highest number on record.

Continue reading… “A record number of folks age 85 and older are working. Here’s what they’re doing”