Retirement

The longer you work, the better, retirement experts will tell you. Plow on until you're 70 and you'll make more, have fewer years of retirement to fund, and collect a fatter Social Security check. But that's not always desirable, or possible.

According to a poll of 642 18- to 29-year-olds conducted by the Strategic Research Institute at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis., 50% don’t believe Social Security will exist by the time they become age-eligible for the program at 67.

American workers are becoming more and more pessimistic about their retirement prospects, according to a new survey by Sun Life Financial, but those who have invested in annuities or hold long-term care insurance are decidedly more confident.

Aon Hewitt’s September 401(k) Index observations were released yesterday, showing that despite steep losses in the stock market in September, participant transfers were very modest. On average, 0.03% of balances transferred on any given day. This is in line with the trailing 12-month average daily net transfer activity levels.

American workers' trust in their future retirement has reached a four-year low, according to a release of the Unretirement Index, a poll of nearly 1,500 working Americans by Sun Life Financial Inc. After remaining stable for three years, retirement confidence dropped nearly 20% this September compared to a year earlier, according to the survey.

FINRA this week issued an investor alert urging the roughly 30% of American workers who are not contributing enough to their 401(k) plans to receive a full employer match to step up their contributions in order to meet their eventual retirement needs.

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. this week issued an investor alert urging the roughly 30% of American workers who are not contributing enough to their 401(k) plans to receive a full employer match to step up their contributions in order to meet their eventual retirement needs.

Americans of all ages and sexes are forgoing retirement planning, but there are marked differences between older and younger generations. And while women are often making financial and purchasing decisions for their households, the survey found they are not taking the same care as they plan for their own golden years.

As financial markets continue to fluctuate and place retirement portfolios at risk, non-retired Americans are showing a clear desire for guaranteed income in retirement according to a survey by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America.

Recent findings from the 2011 MetLife Retirement Income IQ, a 15-question quiz on retirement issues conducted by the MetLife Mature Market Institute, shows Americans have quite a way to go to learn what they need for a financially secure retirement. Of the 1,213 pre-retirees aged 56 to 65 who took the quiz, the majority answered only five of the 15 questions correctly, leaving a persistent misperception and misunderstanding in a number of core areas, such as life expectancy, inflation, retirement income/savings, long-term care insurance and, to some extent, Social Security.