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A recent national public
opinion survey reveals widespread retirement insecurity among Americans
concerning prospects for retirement. Current economic conditions have more than
eight out of ten Americans worried about their ability to retire. Some 71%
indicate they feel it is harder today to retire as compared to previous
generations. Commissioned by the National Institute on Retirement Security and
conducted by Mathew Greenwald & Associates, Inc., the results are contained in a
new research report entitled, “Pensions & Retirement Security: A Roadmap for
Policy Makers.”
Across America, older workers
are postponing retirement plans, dismayed by huge losses in the value of the
investments they had depended on to fund their retirement. The U.S. recession
has compounded the problem, with home values too low to provide the nest egg
many seniors need and interest rates on safer assets close to zero. A December
survey by the senior's advocacy group AARP showed 57% of Americans aged
forty-five or over who lost money in their investments over the past year expect
to delay retirement. One in four have already postponed plans to retire, the
survey showed.
A separate poll by consulting
firm Towers Perrin showed nearly two-thirds of U.S. employees believe they face
a much greater risk that they won't be able to afford to retire when they want
to. In August 2008, 14% of those polled said they planned to retire in the next
few years. In the December survey, that number dropped to 9%.
Continuing to Work
In August 2008, 36% of men and
26% of women age sixty-five to sixty-nine were still working, compared with only
26% of men and 17% of women ten years earlier.
Investment News
estimates that only about one-fifth of investors regard financial advisers as
their main source of advice when it comes to planning for retirement based on a
recent survey. In fact, two-fifths of investors don't seek outside retirement
advice at all.
Pension
Plans in Asia
The OECD is calling on
governments in the Asia-Pacific region to implement major pension reforms
quickly before cracks in their retirement systems could potentially cause severe
economic and social damage.
Accessibility to a
pension plan in many Asian countries needs to improve. According to the OECD,
only 7.5% of the overall working population is covered in mandatory pension
plans in non-OECD countries in South Asia and 18% in non-OECD East Asian and
Asia Pacific countries. In all OECD countries, 70% of workers are covered. |
The steel industry’s battle to
cut costs in the face of the global financial crisis and resulting sharp order
drop has led two steelmakers--Essar Steel Algoma Inc., Sault Ste. Marie,
Ontario, and U.S. Steel Corp., Pittsburgh--to offer early retirement incentives
to select groups of employees.
Retirement Living TV Goes with Comcast
Retirement Living TV (RLTV)
has entered into a carriage agreement with Comcast for its digital television
level of service. This new agreement provides Comcast with more programming
targeting this audience, which is now the nation's largest demographic and one
of the fastest growing.
Retirement
Funds Lose in Arkansas
Arkansas' six state retirement
systems collectively lost more than $2 billion in the value of their investments
in the quarter that ended Dec. 31. This is the second consecutive quarter in
which the systems reported investment losses beyond $2 billion.
The systems have more than
181,000 members, more than 123,000 of them working members and more than 51,600
retired members or surviving beneficiaries.
Officials for the systems have
said these losses won't affect benefits of current retirees.
Two Louisiana
Pension Plans Ponzied
The pension plans for state
police and New Orleans city employees may have lost nearly $400,000 each in
financier Bernard Madoff’s $50 billion Ponzi scheme. Officials with the two
retirement systems say they had no idea their funds were invested with Madoff.
The systems had entrusted the money to firms hired to find small hedge funds
that would otherwise be difficult to access. Those companies then invested with
Madoff.
The potential losses are small
when compared to the entire systems, for which reason current benefits will not
likely be affected. The state police system is valued at about $330 million,
while the city system is worth about $275 million.
The National Institute on
Retirement Security held a conference call on January 14 for a presentation on
new public opinion research findings and to respond to questions.
The research assessed American
views on retirement security and pensions amid current economic conditions, as
well as steps the new Congress and Administration can take to address retirement
security issues.
The findings are undergoing
compilation.
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