Good News, Bad News on Life Expectancy

Good news for Americans: You are living longer.     
The bad news: The longer life span doesn’t bode well for the corporate pension plans that are supposed to support workers into old age. 
New mortality estimates released Monday by the nonprofit Society of Actuaries show the average 65-year-old U.S. woman is expected to live 88.8 years, up from 86.4 in 2000. Men age 65 are expected to live 86.6 years, up from 84.6 in 2000.

Source:  The Wall Street Journal (10/28/14) by Dan Fitzpatrick

http://online.wsj.com/articles/rising-u-s-lifespans-spell-likely-pain-for-pension-funds-1414430683

Behind on investing for retirement? Check out the Late Savers Guidebook

Late Savers Guidebook by Barbara O’Neill

It’s Not Too Late

"This guidebook is for people who know they should have saved more when they were younger...but didn’t. Perhaps you simply spent everything you earned, lacked an employer retirement savings plan, or experienced a major financial setback such as illness, divorce, or unemployment. The good news is it’s not too late to take action to secure your future. If you believe you are behind in preparing for retirement, this guidebook can help you make adjustments that can compensate for lost time. More than a dozen financial catch-up strategies are described to provide you with options for planning your future."

Download at: http://www.smartaboutmoney.org/Portals/0/ResourceCenter/LateSavers.pdf

Investing for a Lifetime

Wondering how much you need to invest for retirement and where/how to invest? Ready for retirement but wanting guidance on how to make your money last?  Look no further than this excellent new book: Investing for a Lifetime: Managing Wealth for the “New Normal” by University of Pennsylvania finance professor and adviser Richard. C. Marston. It’s available at the Logan Library (332.6 Marston) and as an e-book through the USU library. Although persons who are number phobic may have to take a few deep breaths before they start reading, this is a most comprehensive and comprehensible book on investing. Due to its 2014 publication date, the data and references to the 2007-09 financial debacle make it especially relevant. One aspect that I especially liked was the brevity of each chapter. Although each chapter is packed with information and cogent advice, one isn’t overwhelmed by too much data or detail. Professor Marston writes with clarity and illustrates with understandable graphs and tables. Find more information about the book, author, and additional resources at his website: http://www.richardcmarston.com.

Read the New York Times review which lauds “the simple, straightforward approach” and how Marston helps “you determine exactly how much money you need to put away” at: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/13/business/mutfund/investing-for-a-lifetime-by-richard-c-marston.html?_r=0

According to the publisher’s (Wiley) website http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1118900944.html “Investing for a Lifetime shows:

• how younger investors can set savings goals
• how both younger and older investors can choose investment portfolios to achieve these goals
• how investors can sustain spending once reaching retirement.”

National Save for Retirement Week

The third week in October is National Save for Retirement Week. Commit to doing one thing this week to improve your retirement readiness. Need ideas? Search this blog! For college students, have the conversation with your parents to determine their retirement preparation... it's in your best interest as well as theirs!

How to Win the Loser’s Game: Making the case for evidence-based investing

This series of short videos, produced in 2014 in the UK (but virtually all the concepts apply here in the U.S. and Canada), “has been created to provide investors and investing professionals with clear, concise and independent information about investing and, specifically, the benefits of evidence-based (or passive) investing.” http://www.sensibleinvesting.tv/about-us

Based on solid research and including interviews with Nobel Prize winning economists, the videos speak plainly to the average investor. You can forget about making your financial advisor rich; skip the actively managed funds sold by commission-earning salespeople. Watch and apply this information to your own investing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXgzFDgdxJk