Retirement
Twenty-Five Years After Federal Pension Reform
As various states grapple with reforming their public employee pension systems, the experience of how the federal government managed pension reform 25 years ago may provide some useful background to governors and state legislatures. This article takes a look at how the federal government handled pension reform and the political and legislative forces involved when Congress enacted the Federal Employee Retirement System Act of 1986.
The Impact of Deferring Retirement Age on Retirement Income Adequacy
A new study by EBRI finds that if Baby Boomers and Gen Xers delay their retirement past the age of 65, many of them still would not have adequate income to cover their basic retirement expenses and uninsured health care costs. The research also shows that even if a worker delays his or her retirement age into their 80s, there is still a chance the household will be “at risk” of running short of money in retirement. However, the chance of success for retirement adequacy improves significantly as individuals reach their late 70s and early 80s.
Retirement Income Adequacy With Immediate and Longevity Annuities
For new retirees wanting to ensure they don’t run short of money in retirement, two products offer a source of guaranteed lifetime income: immediate annuities (which immediately begin to generate lifetime income) and longevity annuities (which delay payments until the retiree hits an advanced age, such as 80 or 85). New research by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) finds that, generally, either type would be effective at reaching desired income adequacy targets—especially for lower-income retirees.
The 2011 Retirement Confidence Survey: Confidence Drops to Record Lows, Reflecting “the New Normal”
In a sign that Americans are recognizing the realities they face about their chances for a comfortable retirement, the 2011 Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS) finds workers are more pessimistic than at any time in the two decades the RCS has been conducted: More than a quarter (27 percent) of workers now say they are “not at all confident” about retirement, up 5 percentage points from the level measured just one year ago. Reinforcing that trend, the percentage of workers saying they are “very confident” of a comfortable retirement ties with 2009 at 13 percent—the lowest rate ever measured by the RCS.
A Post-Crisis Assessment of Retirement Income Adequacy for Baby Boomers and Gen Xers
Depending largely on age and income, between 4–14 percent of Americans who otherwise would have had adequate income to cover basic expenses in retirement became “at risk” of running short because of the housing and financial crisis of 2008–2009, according to a new report by EBRI.