Death of the Traditional Pension Plan |
June 7, 2012 |
Cal Burgess, Income For Life, Member Posts, Retirement Planning
Written By: Cal Burgess, Retirement Servicing Group PLLC The traditional pension plan is a concept from the past that is likely to never come back to the American culture. The concept of the pension plan is ingrained into the fabric of our country’s roots, and Generation X is going to be the first generation in US history that will not experience the benefits of this retirement plan. Through adamant deregulation of the investment banking industry from the early 1980s throughout the 1990s, deteriorating market conditions...
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GM Makes Strong Move Away From Pensions |
June 6, 2012 |
401k and IRA Blogs, Income For Life, Retirement Planning
GM announced last Friday that is will make a strong move to decrease its pension liabilities. For retirees, they will offer over 40,000 them a lump-sum payment of cash to end their monthly benefits. The rest of the 118,000 salaried retirees and spouses in the U.S. will be serviced by a group annuity that GM will purchase. Their overall plan is to unload $26 billion in pension liabilities from their books in a move that experts say are likely to become a trend as companies...
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The Accumulation Phase is the Missing Link |
June 4, 2012 |
Cal Burgess, Income For Life, Member Posts, Retirement Planning, Your Retirement
Written By: Cal Burgess, Retirement Servicing Group With respect to income and retirement planning, there are 3 phases of life. The introduction phase, the accumulation phase, and the preservation phase. The second phase, the accumulation phase, is the phase of life where you accumulate funds to retire (working years of life), pay off as much debt as possible, and try to achieve the best quality of life you can. This is the phase that is destroying the American dream of retirement. Most of us grew...
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Adaptation to an Evolving Market |
May 25, 2012 |
Cal Burgess, Member Posts, Retirement Planning, The Global Economy, The United States Economy
Written By: Cal Burgess, Retirement Servicing Group PLLC In the latter part of March 2012, despite the growing concerns of a debt-ridden Euro, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was able to creep above the 13,000 mark for the first time in 2012. Even with this market rally, the struggling mortgage industry lowered the 30-year fixed mortgage below 4 percent again (and mortgage interest rates are still falling). With legitimate foreign concerns and a troubled housing sector, the stock market has been able to sustain higher...
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Fear and Greed on Wall Street |
May 24, 2012 |
Annuity123, Cal Burgess, Member Posts, Retirement Planning, Your Retirement
Written by: Cal Burgess, Retirement Servicing Group A recent article on www.Money.Cnn.com titled “Fear and Greed Index” illustrates an accurate description of what is happening on Wall Street. Because of the recent volatility stemming around Greece and the Euro, and unemployment domestically, the fear gage for investors is all the way in the red. This means that investors as a whole do not put much faith in the outcome of their investments. Bottom line, volatility is becoming a normal event investors are unwilling to tolerate...
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Corporate Pension Plan Offerings Plummet While Defined Contribution Plans Skyrocket |
May 23, 2012 |
Retirement Planning
According to a survey by consulting firm, Towers Watson, the proportion of Fortune 100 companies offering defined benefit plans fell from 67 percent to 17 percent from 1998 to 2010. During that same time, defined contribution plans increased from 10 percent to 58 percent. Companies have been moving towards defined contribution plans such as 401(k)s in order to cut their costs. Unless you have amazing luck investing, the defined contribution plans will deliver less income after you retire compared to the defined benefit plans, which...
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5 IRA Timing Rules That Can Derail Your Retirement |
May 21, 2012 |
Retirement Planning, Your Retirement
You have surely heard the saying that “Timing is everything”, but you may not have heard it in reference to IRAs. An article posted by Robert Powell with the above title highlights 5 important timing rules that you need to consider when developing and executing your retirement plan. Here are the five timing issues that seem to generate the most problems: 1. The age-55 penalty exception 2. The five-year rule for 72(t) payments 3. The five-year rule for Roth IRA conversions 4. Five-year rule for...
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Only 1 in 7 Employees on Track to Retire with 80% of Income |
May 15, 2012 |
Retirement Planning
According to research done by Financial Finesse, only one in seven employees say they are on track to retire with 80% (or their goal) of their income. This finding came from a new survey on financial trends of employees was derived from responses to an online financial wellness assessment questionnaire. It found that only 14% believed that they were on track to meet their retirement income goal. On a more upbeat note, another key finding from this research is that employees are becoming more proactive...
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Healthcare Costs for Retirees Rise Again |
May 14, 2012 |
Healthcare, Retirement Planning, Your Retirement
According to a report released by Fidelity Investments released last week, a 65 year old couple retiring in 2012 will spend at least $240,000 in healthcare costs during their retirement (this is on top of their Medicare benefits). Compared to the forecast given last year of $230,000, this update represents a 4% increase. Further, this expenditure forecast does not even include long-term care, over-the-counter medications, nor most dental care expenditures. Given this significant and growing amount, it is very important to ensure that your retirement...
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