November 2008 - Posts
The New York Times
Life insurance companies, hobbled by real estate investments and committed to paying some costly retirement contracts, face more cuts in their credit ratings before the year is up and have little choice but to seek capital in unforgiving
Read More
The Wall Street Journal - November 19, 2008
Down in the morning, up in the afternoon. Or is it the other way around? The topsy-turvy stock market is tough to read.
In the last year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has briefly been over 13,000 and below
Read More
The New York Times - November 21, 2008
The housing crisis has kept thousands of older Americans who need support and care from moving into retirement communities or assisted-living centers, effectively stranding them in their own homes.
Without selling
Read More
The Wall Street Journal - November 19, 2008
Amid growing concern over the stock market's severe drop, government officials are considering last-minute relief from rules requiring millions of Americans who are 70½ or older to withdraw money from their
Read More
The New York Times - November 18, 2008
After a Senate inquiry found evidence of deceptive marketing, AARP, the lobby for older Americans, has hired an outside investigator to look into sales of some of its popular health insurance products.
AARP and
Read More
The Wall Street Journal - November 17, 2008
At times, media coverage of the economic crisis can be too much of a good thing: too much detail, too many experts. Taking a step back can help bring some perspective to the story.
That's where your favorite
Read More
The Chicago Tribune - November 14, 2008
At 82, Katherine Schumert has lived in the same home in the western suburbs for half her life, sharing it first with her husband and children and now as a widow, with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren,
Read More
Metlife - September 20, 2008
When asked to compare the current economy to similar situations in the past, 53% of Americans over the age of 60 said today’s economic conditions are worse than those they have experienced in the past, even though unemployment
Read More
Yahoo Finance - November 11, 2008
Many Americans are understandably outraged by the bailout fever that has gripped Washington this year. But even those who believe the bailouts are a "necessary evil" would have a hard time defending some of the bailout-related
Read More
The New York Times - November 7, 2008
The federal bailouts of the last few months raise a variety of thorny questions, including who benefits at whose expense. But the question that hits home the hardest is the one that isn’t getting enough discussion
Read More
Center for Retirement Research at BC - November 4, 2008
Between October 9, 2007 and October 9, 2008, the value of equities in retirement plans dropped by about $4 trillion, with the decline divided equally between defined benefit and 401(k)/Individual
Read More
Change.gov - Office of the President Elect
Protect Social Security
Obama and Biden are committed to ensuring Social Security is solvent and viable for the American people, now and in the future. Obama and Biden will be honest with the American people
Read More
Forbes - November 6, 2008
The election is over and the message is clear - the economy is priority one. The big question now is how some of President-elect Barack Obama's campaign proposals will affect retirees and workers with 401(k) and other retirement
Read More
Banking Investment Consultant - November 6, 2008
New regulations signed into law July 30 this year by President Bush, take effect today, Nov.6, raising the maximum amount homeowners 62 years or older can "borrow" by selling their homes back to the bank
Read More
Forbes - October 30, 2008
The 401(k) retirement savings system has come under considerable scrutiny since the U.S. economic meltdown pushed stocks lower, costing retirement plans an estimated $2 trillion in the past 15 months.
A number of economists
Read More
US News & World Report - October 31, 2008
Even before the recent collapse of investment values, the paltry sums in private retirement accounts caused concern if not alarm among pension and retirement experts. Now, the wolf is not only at the door
Read More