RetirementPlanning
There are many roads to financial security, but whatever path you follow, there are some mandatory steps everyone ought to take along the way. Alexa von Tobel, founder of LearnVest.com, cuts through the thicket of advice to give us her essential keys to sound money management.
What Will You Do When Social Security's Trust Runs Dry?
6:30AM 1/18/2012
In 2036, Social Security's Trust Fund is set to run out of money, after which it's anticipated that the program's benefits will be cut by about a quarter. And if you're likely to be around when that happens, you need a plan to make up the difference.
Today's Retirement Myth: A Million Dollars Is Enough
8:00AM 1/15/2012
$1 million is a lot of money, but assuming that should be your retirement funding goal can be dangerously simplistic. So before you spend the next few decades over- or under-saving, assess whether $1 million is enough -- or too much -- to fund your plans.
Ponzi Scheme or Not, Social Security Can't Keep Up the Pace
7:00AM 1/13/2012
Social Security's trust fund is in the long, slow process of collapsing because it won't have enough funds to pay its promised benefits. Sound like a Ponzi scheme? Perhaps, but at least this "scheme" is one in which you can come out ahead -- especially if you start preparing now.
There's a persistent assumption going around about what happens after one retires -- your spending shrinks. Sure, your house may be paid off by then, and you may be able to ditch some work-related expenses. But that's not the full picture.
Many companies have done away with pensions, replacing them with 401(k) plans and related options that put responsibility for retirement saving squarely on you. But those same corporations have also been pushing to keep you in the dark about the plans' costs.
Every adult needs a will: It may be depressing to contemplate, but die without one, and the state decides what happens to your property, and there's no guarantee the state's wishes and your own will coincide.
There are several major flaws in the classic "retirement as a goal" scenario, but you're not locked into it. If you've avoided major debt and have an education that allows you the freedom to re-imagine the concept, you could completely change your life.
Do you really want to work your whole life? An alarming number of workers think they'll have to -- and that number is rising. More than a quarter of workers age 50 and older expect to retire at 70 or later. Even worse, one in six Americans think they'll never be able to retire.
What Social Security Gets You: A Minimum-Wage Lifestyle
12:00PM 12/20/2011
Good news: Retirees will get a 3.6% Social Security cost-of-living adjustment in 2012 -- their first boost since 2009. Bad news: The average benefit is $1,229 a month, about the equivalent of working for minimum wage.
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