DailyFinance.comhttp://www.dailyfinance.comDailyFinance.comhttp://o.aolcdn.com/os/df/2013/img/2-dailyfinance_logo_m.pngDailyFinance.comhttp://www.dailyfinance.comen-usCopyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only.Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/For Many Hopeful Retirees, 70 May Not Be the New 65 After Allhttp://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/09/03/postponing-retirement-70-not-the-new-65/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/09/03/postponing-retirement-70-not-the-new-65/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/09/03/postponing-retirement-70-not-the-new-65/#commentsFiled under: ,

older workersBy Steven Kutz

It's become common -- and comforting -- wisdom: Those who haven't saved enough for retirement can significantly boost their income in their golden years by working until the age of 70, instead of the traditional 65.

Not so, counters a study released Thursday by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. "You're not going to magically be fine if you work a few more years," said Jack VanDerhei, research director for EBRI and author of the report.

EBRI's studies often sound a sobering note on this topic (See our MarketWatch colleague Robert Powell's take on a study from last year: "Many of Us Won't Be Able to Retire Until Our 80s") .

Its latest study is noticeably less optimistic than a recent report by another influential research group, the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. The center's report had found that 86% of households would be prepared to retire by age 70. That report also found a relatively small gap between the retirement readiness of low-income and high-income households. But EBRI's report concluded that about a third of today's households wouldn't be financially ready even if they worked to age 70.

VanDerhei said that the Center for Retirement Research analysis didn't factor in the prohibitively high costs of nursing home care, which typically isn't fully covered by Medicare and is only covered by Medicaid in some cases. His own methodology included the probability of nursing home expenses and arrived at a less optimistic conclusion.

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It also projected a much bigger gap between rich and poor: While 90% of those making at least $72,500 in annual income would have a 50% chance of meeting their retirement income needs by age 65, those making $11,700 and below would need to work until 84 to have the same probability of success.

Neither study specifically defines the percentage of working income that a retiree would need to replace to be considered adequately prepared. (In an email, Andrew D. Eschtruth, communications director for the Center for Retirement Research, says, "Different methodologies will produce different results, but both studies agree that working longer will help improve retirement security.")

Many workers don't even have the luxury of delaying retirement. In EBRI's 2012 Retirement Confidence Survey, 50% of current retirees reported they left the workforce earlier than planned-because of health concerns for themselves or their spouse, changes at their company or other reasons. The bottom line for workers? "Bite the bullet and save the additional money," VanDerhei said.

EBRI's findings weren't all bleak, however: The study found that workers who participated in a 401(k) plan at age 65 boosted their retirement readiness by 20 percentage points.

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]]>Center for Retirement ResearchEBRIEmployee Benefit Research InstituteFinanceHealthMarketWatchMedicaidMedicarenursing home carePostponing Retirementretirementretirement ageretirement planningsocial securityMarketWatchMon, 03 Sep 2012 06:00:00 ESTCFTC Charges Three Firms with Oil Price Manipulationhttp://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/05/24/cftc-charges-three-firms-with-oil-price-manipulation/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/05/24/cftc-charges-three-firms-with-oil-price-manipulation/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/05/24/cftc-charges-three-firms-with-oil-price-manipulation/#commentsFiled under: ,

CFTC Charges Three Firms with Oil Price Manipulation By Alistair Barr, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO -- A "manipulative" scheme that made unlawful profits on the price of crude oil was flagged in a complaint Tuesday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a sign that the regulator is cracking down on potential speculation in energy markets.

The CFTC said it filed a civil enforcement action against Parnon Energy, Arcadia Petroleum of the United Kingdom, and Arcadia Energy of Switzerland in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Also charged were James Dyer of Australia and Nicholas Wildgoose of California for unlawfully manipulating and attempting to manipulate crude-futures prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange from January to April 2008.

The long-awaited $9 billion stock offering from AIG and the U.S. Treasury is on track to price late Tuesday despite recent market weakness. Randall Smith has details.

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The defendants allegedly made at least $50 million by cornering the supply of West Texas Intermediate light sweet crude at Cushing, Okla., the regulator alleged in its complaint. The pipeline hub there is the key point at which all crude futures are priced for trading on Nymex.

"Defendants conducted a manipulative cycle, driving the price of WTI to artificial highs and then back down, to make unlawful profits," the commission said in a statement.

The allegations come as the barrel's price has surged well above $100 in recent months. This month, crude prices slumped after CME Group (CME), the operator of Nymex, increased margin requirements for trading crude-futures contracts.

The last time crude spiked above $100 a barrel was in early 2008. At that time, speculation was at least partly blamed for the increases. When the global financial crisis hit in the second half of that year, crude slumped below $40 a barrel.

Parnon Energy is the trading and marketing arm of Parnon Holdings, which the CFTC said operates as a "common enterprise" with Arcadia Petroleum, based in London.

The affiliates traded West Texas Intermediate through a collective "WTI book" run by Dyer and Wildgoose, according to the CFTC's complaint.

Phone calls to Parnon's U.S. offices were referred to Colin Hurley, chief financial officer of Arcadia Petroleum in London. Calls to Hurley's phone weren't picked up.



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]]>Arcadia EnergyArcadia PetroleumCFTCchargesCommodity Futures Trading Commissioncrude oilfuturesoil price manipulationoil pricesParnon EnergyRegulatorsMarketWatchTue, 24 May 2011 14:43:00 EST