Archive for the 'Retirement Jobs' Category

Are You $250,000 Short on Retirement Savings? You Are Not Alone!

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Editorial Team

According to a new study from Ameriprise Financial, there appears to be a significant disconnect between average retirement goals and reality.

While the study suggests that Americans have a positive view of retirement – with 78 percent of respondents expecting to be extremely happy, it seems that most Americans have a gap of $250,000 between their actual savings and what they will need to be comfortable in retirement.

The good news is that it is possible to manage this gap:  create a strong financial plan, work longer, live more frugally and eliminate credit card debt.  You could also consider a Reverse Mortgage or look for opportunities to downsize your home.

Resources:

–>  Do You Have Enough for Retirement?  Find Out by Using the NewRetirement Calculator.

–> Can Working Longer Help You Make Up the Shortfall?

–> Considering a Reverse Mortgage? Estimate Your Loan Amount Now.

New Resource for Optimizing Your 401k!

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Rohith

Most employers have probably given you a list of possible investments, but no advice on which ones are best for you and your retirement.  If you are frustrated by this approach, you may want to consider a service that can give you recommendations designed to optimize your investment returns while minimizing risks.

Smart401k is an easy to use solution to help you make the right investment decisions.  For a flat yearly fee they will tell you exactly how to invest your money now and help you rebalance your portfolio over time.

How Smart401k works:

1. Enroll online and pay a $199.95 yearly fee

2. Tell Smart401k about you and the investment options offered by your employer.

3. Receive an investment plan within a few days

4. Get periodic updates from Smart401k on how to shift or rebalance your account

RESOURCES:

 

 

Don’t Dismiss Reverse Mortgages!

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Rohith

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently released a purely negative report that degraded the use of reverse mortgages. However, there are actually many benefits of a reverse mortgage.

First off, in order to qualify for a reverse mortgage, you must own and reside in your home and be a senior 62 years of age or older. (In most cases second homes, apartment buildings and homes less than a year old are not eligible for a reverse mortgage.)

Reverse mortgages must be considered with all other options like selling the home, downsizing, or moving to an assisted living facility. These types of loans are long term decisions because  there are insurance fees and mortgage interest that gets added to the loan balance every month. So someone that plans on selling in 5 years will have less equity.

For anyone who chooses to participate in a reverse mortgage program, they can take their money in regular payments for a fixed term, a line of credit, or select some combination of these choices by receiving the entire amount in a lump sum.

These special types of loans might be good options for homeowners that still have a mortgage, credit card debt, or need to make necessary repairs to their home. And with any financial decision, it is important to talk with trusted financial advisors to help make your decision.

The bottom line is this: reverse mortgages may not work for everyone but dismissing the service completely might prove to doom many households to poverty in old age.

Visit newretirement.com for a number of free services:

 

 



Retirement Realities in a Stumbling Economy

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Rohith

With a downward spiraling economy, there are a few realities that you need to keep in mind and take into consideration in order to land a safe and successful retirement.

  • The first strategy is working in retirement. According to experts, 70 is the new 65, in retirement terms at least. Working in retirement will keep paychecks coming and hopefully provide you with  benefits such as health insurance and retirement account contributions. Finally, continuing to work may also provide you the ability to delay claiming your Social Security benefits – for each year up to 70, your increase by about 8%.
  • Another strategy that can be taken to plan for a successful retirement is the Social Security claiming strategy. As mentioned above, delaying your social security benefits will result in an 8% increase each year. It may also be possible for one spouse to begin drawing half of the other spouse’s Social Security benefits while still delaying his or her own claiming date (and thus enjoying those 8 percent annual benefit increases).
  • Taking a reverse mortgage could be they key to plan for a successful retirement. A Reverse Mortgage, or Reverse Home Mortgage, is a great financial product for seniors to use in their retirement plan.When looking for ways to get cash from their home, most people consider selling their house or borrowing against their home equity and making monthly loan repayments on a home equity loan. To be eligible for most Reverse Mortgages, you must own and reside in your home and be a senior 62 years of age or older. (In most cases second homes, apartment buildings and homes less than a year old are not eligible for a reverse mortgage.)
  • Spending retirement assets is another consideration to take into account when planning for retirement. The standard advice given by a financial adviser is not to spend more than 4% of your assets a year. However, in reality, whatever number makes sense to you needs to be accompanied by a strategy to actually manage your retirement assets to produce whatever level of payouts you’ve selected.

Resources:

Continue here to find a prescreened Reverse Mortgage lender

 

Use our free Newretirement Retirement Calculator to plan for a safe retirement

—–> https://www.newretirement.com/retirement-calculator/default.aspx

Use our free Reverse Mortgage Calculator to see how much you qualify for

—–> https://www.newretirement.com/Services/Reverse_Mortgage_Calculator.aspx

Use our free Social Security Calculator to find out when is the best time to take your benefits

—– >https://www.newretirement.com/Services/Social_Security_Start_Age_Calculator.aspx


Click here to be matched up with a financial advisor to help you plan for a safe retirement

 

 

Women in Retirement

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Rohith

In general, women tend to earn less and take more time out of the workforce to take care of family members than men. That is why it easy to see that elderly women are at a higher risk of living in poverty during retirement than their male counterparts.

The New York Times reports that women’s household income fell by 41%, on average, when they divorced and by a staggering 37% when widowed. An astonishing statistic that was found after a study was conducted was that the average income for women over the age of 65 was about 25% lower than men’s over the last decade. In addition, the poverty rate for women in this age group was nearly two times higher than men’s in 2010.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (G.A.O.) has put together numerous potential options that could benefit women in retirement.

Some of the options are:

  • Automatic I.R.A. - Employers who do not offer a retirement plan would be required to automatically enroll employees in an Individual Retirement Account, unless the worker opted out.
  • Expand the Saver’s Credit - This credit could be made “refundable,” meaning that it would reduce the amount of tax owed. And if the amount of the credit exceeds your tax bill, you get to collect that extra cash.
  • Caregiver I.R.A. contributions – This would allow all caregivers to contribute to I.R.A.’s up to the qualified contribution limit, based on the individual’s adjusted gross income in the year prior to becoming a qualified caregiver.

There were several other potential ideas listed in the report such as the fact that women tend to benefit from options like annuities that provide lifetime income and that they also depend on social security more heavily than men do. The report also underscored that the difficulties in achieving a secure retirement is a national problem, regardless of gender.

Sources:

 

It is Not too Late! Get Inspired by these Famous Accomplishments Made Late in Life…

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Rohith

If you think that turning 60, 70, 80 or even 90 as the end of your ability to accomplish great things, think again!  Today’s older Americans are reinventing themselves in surprising ways and it turns out that some notable accomplishments have been made by previous generations of seniors.

The following people switched careers around the time of retirement and found great success:

  • Laura Ingalls Wilder published her first book at age 64, chronicling her life as a wife and mother.
  • After a career in science, Peter Mark Roget compiled the first thesaurus and published it at age 73.
  • Grandma Moses did not start painting until she was 76.
  • At age 65 Colonial Sanders started Kentucky Fried Chicken.
  • Edmond Hoyle wrote “Rules of the Game” at age 70Henry Ford introduced the Model T at age 45, but invented the assembly line at age 60.

These people thrived in their professions till late in life:

  • At 90, Pablo Picasso was still producing art.
  • At 88, Pablo Cassals was giving cello concerts.
  • At 85, Coco Chanel was the head of her fashion design firm.
  • George Burns and Jessica Tandy were 80 when they each won an Academy Award.
  • Thomas Edison invented the telephone at age 84
  • Barbara McLintock was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine at the age of 81
  • Benjamin Franklin signed the declaration of independence shortly after he retired from printing at age 70.

If you aren’t sure if you are financially okay for retirement, keep working to find financial security and maybe you’ll also have some other big success!  Tell us About Your Retirement Goals and Accomplishments in the Comments!

Use the NewRetirement Retirement Calculator to Assess Your Retirement Preparedness!

 

 

 

 

If your Plans for Retirement were Shattered

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Rohith

Having financial security throughout retirement is what every working American strides for. However, with declining asset portfolio and house values, it is easier said than done. Planning for retirement can take a wicked twist if one is laid off within a few years of their pre-determined retirement age. According to a New York Times article, the average time someone 55 or older was unemployed was 52.2 weeks. In order to cope with a catastrophe like this, one needs to know a few strategies that will assist you to get back on pace to retirement.

A simple strategy that can be taken is to consider a part time job. Even if this means you’re bringing in $700 per month, this is money you would not have had otherwise. The next step is to figure out the bare minimum you absolutely need and set aside the amount. Finally, deposit the excess into your savings account.

If working part time is not for you, consider tapping into your retirement savings; taking the 10% hit on the amount withdrawn might be worth reducing the damage that could be inflicted in taking a loan and building up debt before retiring.

Paying for health insurance is another critical strategy for coping with not generating income with retirement on the horizon. The first step is to take an early (penalty-free) withdrawal from your I.R.A. to pay for health insurance premiums. After that, you need to pay for your insurance during the year you received unemployment benefits.

 

Why you may NEVER Retire

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Rohith

When you were growing up, you most likely imagined yourself retiring at 65 and getting a secure monthly income from your pension, health care benefits, and social security. However, in this day and age, that is longer the case at all.

Let’s start with retirement pensions. According to this article from Yahoo Finance, between 1998 and 2010, the proportion of companies offering DB (defined benefits pension) plans fell from 67 percent to 17 percent while DC (defined compensation pension) plans rose from 10 percent to 58 percent. The overlying reason companies did this was to cut their costs and unless you have remarkable fortune investing, the DCs will deliver less income after you retire.

The dropping income does not help with retiring either. According to the September 2011 Census Bureau, an average family’s in the U.S fell 2.3 percent to $49,445 in 2010 and has dropped 7 percent since 2000 after adjusting to inflation. These numbers are the lowest since 1996.

The increase in childcare has also delayed retirement for many. According to the Census Bureau, the share of American families with dual-earning couples soared from 20.4 percent to 42.4 percent. This astonishing increase adds to parental stress and boosts childcare expenses for most families.

People’s insufficient returns from their asset portfolio has also caused many to keep working past the age of 65 – stocks have earned slightly more than 2 percent a year in the last decade – the average annual return of the S&P 500 between 2002 and 2012 has been 1.8 percent. Even long term investments do not look promising. The 10 – year Treasury note, for example, only pays 1.72% and to get a measly 2.8% return, you need to put aside your money for 30 years. In a nutshell, due to lower corporate contributions and a shift in the responsibility from the company to the employee to handle investments, annual returns are, on average, 6% to low.

Inadequate savings is one of the overlying reasons people retire later than they would like. According to the Employee Benefits Institute, 17 percent had more than $250,000 saved up in 2011. What is even more astounding is that 60% of the people surveyed had less than $60,000 saved. In short, many Americans do not have enough money saved up in order to retire at their desired age.

Keep these points in mind and plan for a safe retirement by using our Free Retirement Calculator.

 

How prepared are people approaching retirement?

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Steve

Not very – consider some of these stats from a recent NYT article on the impact of the 2008 financial crisis:

  • 36% of American workers age 55 to 64 say they have less than $25,000 in retirement savings
  • 52% of American workers age 45 to 54 say they have less than $25,000 in retirement savings
  • 33% of retirees get more than 90% of their income from Social Security (the avg SS payment is ~ $1,000 per month)
  • 17 % of workers have defined-benefit pensions
  • 39 % have 401(k)’s
  • 53 % of all workers have neither…

To compound the problem some professional investors are predicting lower long term returns for stocks of about 5% vs. 8-9% historically, based on the historical relationship with bonds which are now providing lower returns.

Anyway – some things to consider as you plan your own future.  Good luck!

Life expectancy has gone up 30 years in the past century – the cost of living longer

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Steve

Americans are gaining 1.1 years of life expectancy every five years -

This article does a good job of summarizing the costs faced by people and our society as we continue to extend life expectancies.

Today there are approximately 53,000 Americans who are age 100 or older, compared with just 2,300 in 1950.

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