July 2023
21Jul

US. Many Gen-Xers have zero retirement funds. What can we do to address America’s retirement crisis?

Gen-Xers, those born between 1965 and 1980, are falling behind when it comes to saving for retirement. The typical household holds only $40,000 in retirement savings, according to a new report from the National Institute on Retirement Security. The issue is exacerbated when you break down savings by income level and race. The bottom half of earners only have a few thousand in savings, while 40% of Gen-Xers have retirement savings accounts with zero balances. The report explained that Gen-Xers have...

July 21, 2023
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07Jul

The 2021 Ageing Report: Underlying Assumptions and Projection Methodologies

By Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs & Economic Policy Committee With a view to ensuring the sustainability of public finances in the EU, the ECOFIN Council charged the Economic Policy Committee (EPC) with producing a new set of long-term budgetary projections by 2021, on the basis of new population projections to be provided by Eurostat. Safeguarding the sustainability of public finances requires that the analysis is based on reliable, comparable information on possible challenges to fiscal sustainability, including strains...

July 7, 2023
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07Jul

Health Capacity to Work and Retirement Expectations

By Italo Lopez Garcia, Nicole Maestas & Kathleen J. Mullen Understanding how health influences retirement is fundamental for the design of targeted policies that encourage working longer. While there is wide agreement on the relevance of age-related health decline for determining retirement decisions, the process remains a black box. This paper explores the match between individuals’ functional abilities and job demands in the national economy using a new methodology to measure work capacity. Specifically, we construct a measure of work...

July 7, 2023
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June 2023
30Jun

Optimal Retirement Portfolios with Fixed and Variable Longevity Annuities in Defined Contribution Plans taking Social Security into Account

By Vanya Horneff, Raimond Maurer & Olivia S. Mitchell  This paper examines how two instruments—annuities with lifelong benefits purchased using defined contribution (DC) plan assets, and social security annuities—should be considered jointly to optimize household lifetime wellbeing. Understanding how these interact is of key importance in order to generate efficient retirement portfolios. Additionally, there is likely to be substantial heterogeneity in the demand for longevity annuities across the retiree population, depending on their assets inside and outside tax-qualified retirement plans,...

June 30, 2023
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21Jun

How can you know how much to save for retirement when the goalposts keep moving? Here’s a guide.

When it comes to preparing financially for retirement, Jessica Howard is wise beyond her years. “I absolutely am planning,” said Howard, 27, a Los Angeles-based care manager who schedules medical appointments and home health care for older adults.”“I have a drive to save for retirement because…I see 12 hours a day what can happen when people don’t properly save vs. when they’re fiscally smart.” If only all Americans had the drive and wherewithal to set themselves on a solid path toward...

June 21, 2023
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21Jun

US. 8 Best Retirement Destinations for LGBTQ Seniors

Choosing the best place to retire can be a difficult decision. Not only do you have to consider cost of living, accessibility to health care, proximity to family and more, but if you hope to settle into a community of like-minded retirees – say the LGBTQ senior community – it can be even more difficult to find a place that checks all your boxes. As an LGBTQ senior, inclusivity and community amenities are equally important as factors like cost, so...

June 21, 2023
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16Jun

Pioneering Safe & Inclusive LGBT Specific Retirement Accommodation. Exploring Models in the USA, UK, & Spain

By Liam Concannon With significant advances in equal rights for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) citizens, achieved across the western world during the past few decades, one group that continues to be overlooked is LGBT elders. This article examines the unique discrimination and homophobia faced by older LGBT people living in nursing and residential care homes. It investigates ways in which these environments construct and perpetuate heteronormativity by addressing the needs of heterosexual residents, while at the same...

June 16, 2023
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09Jun

The Effect of Defined Benefit Pensions on Income Survivability and ‘Safe’ Withdrawal Rates in Retirement

By Alan Stocker  Income from a Defined Benefit (DB) pension with various levels of inflation protection (no protection, and inflation caps of 2.5% and 5%) was combined with the income from an investment portfolio to provide a total required income, IR that was constant in inflation adjusted terms. Results of backtesting are presented for retirees in the UK and USA using historical asset returns and inflation. For a value of IR close to the maximum safe withdrawal rate (MSWR) for...

June 9, 2023
Articles, Pension design, , ,
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09Jun

Generation X confronts harsh new reality of retirement: unreadiness

America’s 65 million Generation Xers (born between 1965 and 1980) are confronted with a new set of financial challenges that are redefining their plans for retirement, just as they enter their final working years, according to Prudential Financial, Inc.’s latest Pulse research survey, “Gen X: Retirement Revised.” Key findings of the survey include: Nest egg empty. Up to 30 million (46%) Gen Xers do not think they will have enough saved to live comfortably in retirement. Those fears reflect Gen...

June 9, 2023
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May 2023
17May

UK. Improving financial security in retirement

How much to put aside for retirement is one of those issues that many working age people do not like to think about very much. With the last seven years dominated by Brexit, dealing with a pandemic and recovery from it, supporting households and businesses with energy bills and the cost of living crisis, it is also fair to say retirement saving has not been front and centre in the mind of policymakers either. While there was a lot of policy...

May 17, 2023
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