Congress should give more attention to the ways in which committed, same-sex couples are treated unfairly and are disadvantaged when it comes to the ability to prepare for retirement and protect their families.
You are not doing your children any favors by not allowing them to grow up. I'm OK with parents helping children through college (in four years, not forty), but after that they are on their own.
A few weeks back I was in a weekend workshop with some incredible people. Over lunch one of the men that was sitting at the table began to talk about ...
Jilting the 401(k) to return to the old-fashioned pension, like going back to your spouse after a fling, is not an option. You need something that combines features of both.
What's a pension? A system wherein the employee gives the boss money for "safekeeping." Good luck with that.
The decline in financial markets has reduced the value of 401(k) accounts that Americans are counting on to complement Social Security and has led many retirees to realize it is possible to outlive their savings.
With investments, mob psychology takes over. People get greedy at the top and afraid at the bottom. At the end of the day, they almost always default in favor of sleeping at night.
AARP's arrival robs any sober-thinking individual of the impulses of denial. We can lie to our friends, but if AARP says you're 50, you're 50.
Despite increasing signs that the economic downturn is ending, a new poll from the Northwest Area Foundation (NWAF) finds that 27 percent of Americans...
In these recessionary times, financial tips are flowing fast and furious about how to save money and stick to a budget. Facing a sea of information many people are asking, "Where do I start?"
The 401(k) is now tasked with filling the income gap between what Social Security provides and what you need for a dignified retirement.It's a job the 401(k) was never designed to do, and it has failed to do it.
If enough Boomers left the job market, it would flip the current dynamic of too-many-people-chasing-too-few-jobs upside down, and create a tight labor markets.
More than you like to think, financial success is due to forces beyond your control, such as when in your life the financial cycles play out. All you can do is focus on what you can control.
Most of you read and watch the financial media. You have the benefit of advice from expert brokers and advisors -- and all of their analytic resources. But this is what I refer to as "the missile you never saw coming."
Over the last forty years, we have turned a lot that was once taboo into less taboo conversation topics. And yet, it is still rare to hear open conversations about financial details.
Not only do retirees have a lot at stake in the health care debate, but we also worry about our children and grandchildren in these difficult times. Working together, we can create a health care reform plan that helps Americans of all ages.
Many baby boomers once thought of their homes as piggy-banks. High housing prices would allow us to leverage equity to finance our lifestyles, buy second homes or pay retirement community fees.
we had taken a perfectly decent supplementary savings plan and, without any real discussion, allowed it to become the sole source of most workers' non-Social Security retirement income. The 401(k) was not designed for that role, and it has come up way short.
The vanishing COLA will squeeze many retirees hard. Social Security provides, on average, about 39 percent of income for retired households and more than 50 million people receive benefits.
Here's some bad news for men: We don't live as long as women. But there's bad news for women, too: you might live too long--financially speaking.
Why don't we just admit that the 401(k) is a failure and get on to designing something better? I say this as the writer of an admiring book about the...
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