President Obama this past weekend in his weekly radio address talked about some of his retirement proposals that will increase saving in retirement. Firstly, the President is allowing small businesses “to allow workers to automatically enroll in a 401k or individual retirement account.” Secondly, Obama stated that if you have a retirement account, then you can have a federal tax refund automatically deposited into your account. This initiative will allow money to not simply get spent the moment it arrives in the mail but instead go into a savings account where it will accrue interest. Furthermore, in your tax refund, you could simply check a box and get your refund as a savings bond. If the bond market is paying interest, which it is not right now, then this could be a great decision. Finally, if you are an employee with unused vacation or sick time you could put payments you are due into your retirement plan. This last idea is great for those senior level employees who have unused vacation or in attempts to make younger employees wonder if they really need to take that 3 day vacation.
In other news, a new Charles Schwab report states that nearly half (44%) of retirees claim to be supporting at least another individual financially. While this exhibits the generosity of retirees it is also evidence that retirees are not practicing proper retirement planning. Everyone, of course wants to help their family in whatever way they can, but it is paramount to worry about your own finances instead of your family’s. Helping them in the short term is fine, but imagine once you are gone then how are they going to figure out their finances in the future. Setting the right example through debt consolidation and reducing expenses, is the most prudent decision to ensure your family’s financial future.
And finally, to add to the launching of the socialsecurity.gov site to which I mentioned in the post “Apply For Social Security Benefits Online.” It appears that Patty Duke has brought back her role as
