Thursday, March 24, 2011
Public Spending on Retirement Centers
3:24 PM | Posted by
DNAmite
I just used the new tool for tracking biomedical funding called the International Aging Research Portfolio (IARP). Apparently, over $142 million was spent on projects containing words "center and retirement".
That is way too low and most of the grants are not even focused on creating retirement centers or centers for retirement research. And the funding charts do not reflect the global trends.
That is way too low and most of the grants are not even focused on creating retirement centers or centers for retirement research. And the funding charts do not reflect the global trends.
Chart of projects containing Center and Retirement 
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Governments will postpone the retirement age sooner or later
Interesting article in Wall Street Journal today. This trend is even worse than the global warming or the dependence on oil or foreign goods. And worse than AIDS epidemic and famine in Africa. If we don't find a way to take care of the elderly, the economy will collapse.
Detractors say that will affect the quality of government services. "We are hurting ourselves in terms of retaining good employees," said John Burnett, a Missouri lawmaker who opposed raising the retirement age in his state. Proponents say an upside, in addition to saving money, is that healthy, capable older workers will continue to bring skills and experience to bear.
Link:
http://finance.yahoo.com/focus-retirement/article/110210/stressed-states-are-forcing-workers-to-retire-later;_ylt=ApQrUGpuN1Ci5z2Qq.yNob.7YWsA;_ylu=X3oDMTE1ZHNsanYwBHBvcwMzBHNlYwNmaWRlbGl0eUZQBHNsawNzdHJlc3NlZHN0YXQ-?mod=fidelity-readytoretire&cat=fidelity_2010_getting_ready_to_retire
States are deciding it's time their workers retire later.
Lawmakers in at least 10 states have voted this year to require many new government employees to work longer before retiring with a full pension, or have increased penalties for early retirement. A similar proposal is pending in California. Mississippi, already among the states requiring more years of service for a pension, is weighing the additional step of increasing its retirement age.
The change comes as foreign governments from France to Morocco have either decided to increase or are contemplating a rise in the age at which private and public workers can receive government pensions.
A federal commission studying long-term U.S. fiscal issues is also entertaining the idea of changing the retirement age as one way to shore up Social Security, said a person familiar with the matter. A report is due to President Obama in December.
Individual states, meanwhile, are moving ahead as they respond to the widening gaps between the obligations made to workers and the money expected to be available to pay them, thanks to investment losses and recessionary budget pressures.
"It's a very positive change that the age for receiving full benefits is increasing," said Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. "Increasing the retirement age is the single most important thing [states] can do" to tame future pension costs, because it reduces the number of years the state is paying a benefit, she said.
Though lengthening lifespans have been expected to pressure pension systems, the looming fiscal predicament has emboldened lawmakers to demand more years from employees. Also, as many American states cut services, scrutiny has fallen on the compensation of public workers.
In Illinois, where state lawmakers voted in March to increase the retirement age for most new hires to 67 from 60, "it had everything to do with the financial straits the state is in," said Tim Blair, the executive secretary of the State Employees' Retirement System of Illinois. "The scales have tipped."
The states are taking aim at long-held and sometimes controversial pension plans. In Utah, new fire and public safety employees as of July 1, 2011, must work 25 years, up from 20, before getting a full pension. Most other state employees must now work 35 years instead of 30 before receiving their pension.
In Illinois, teachers can retire as early as age 55 with 35 years of service. But starting Jan. 1, 2011, new hires must reach age 67 with 10 years of service.
In June, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reached a tentative contract agreement with six public-employee unions to bump up the retirement age by five years for new hires. The governor's office and six other unions remain in negotiations, with one of the sticking points a proposed increase in the retirement age.
The changes could add momentum to raise the age at which Americans receive payments from Social Security, say industry experts.
Recently, calls to boost the retirement age, now 67 for people born in 1960 or later, have come from both parties.
In speeches this year, Rep. Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat and the House Majority leader, said Congress might consider raising the age to reflect Americans' longer lifespans as one option to bolster the program's long-term solvency. Rep. John Boehner, an Ohio Republican and the House Minority leader, said in June that he would consider raising the retirement age for Social Security to 70 for younger workers.
Changes to the retirement age won't solve the most immediate financial problems that now face some public-pension systems, mostly because adjustments generally affect new workers. They aren't expected to pay off for decades.
But the increases are part of a broader set of changes reshaping government jobs. These positions long have been considered attractive partly because of the benefits, including a guaranteed pension. Now, cutbacks mean that increasing numbers of public sector employees will work longer with fewer benefits.
Detractors say that will affect the quality of government services. "We are hurting ourselves in terms of retaining good employees," said John Burnett, a Missouri lawmaker who opposed raising the retirement age in his state. Proponents say an upside, in addition to saving money, is that healthy, capable older workers will continue to bring skills and experience to bear.In the U.S., the changes represent a step toward bringing the retirement age for government workers, on average 60 years old, more in line with the private sector, around 63, said Ms. Munnell. While the retirement age of government workers has remained fairly steady since the mid-1980s, private sector workers have been retiring later, as employers have shifted from guaranteed pensions to more-variable 401(k) plans, among other factors, she added.
The changes have faced pushback. In Colorado, the teachers' union helped prevent an increase in the retirement age proposed for 2017. In Utah, fire and public safety workers lobbied successfully against a proposed 15-year increase in required years of service. Instead, the change adopted was an added five years.
"There's some point at which an old cop like me shouldn't be out chasing young criminals," said Michael Galieti, a 61-year-old police officer who is on the board of the 3,000-member Utah Peace Officers Association.
But generally, proposals have moved past resistance, partly because they apply to new hires. "People care most about things that affect them immediately," said Mr. Burnett of Missouri.
Experts say major changes are less likely with firefighters and police because there is often a public policy view that older workers shouldn't be in these positions and that people who do hold these often-dangerous jobs deserve long pensions. For example, in some municipalities in New York State, some police and firefighters can retire after 20 years of service.
In Europe, proposed changes to the retirement age are part of a broad effort to rein in the costs of a social safety net that has long been one of the world's most generous. Changes would affect workers broadly, not just public workers.
In 2007, Germany raised the retirement age to 67 from 65, to be phased in by 2029. France's parliament is due to vote on a similar measure this fall, while Spain, Portugal and Ireland are considering such changes. Morocco is contemplating an increase in the retirement age for public and private sector workers to 62 from 60.
Write to Jeannette Neumann at jeannette.neumann@wsj.com, Michael Corkery at michael.corkery@wsj.com and Marcus Walker at marcus.walker@wsj.com
Link:
http://finance.yahoo.com/focus-retirement/article/110210/stressed-states-are-forcing-workers-to-retire-later;_ylt=ApQrUGpuN1Ci5z2Qq.yNob.7YWsA;_ylu=X3oDMTE1ZHNsanYwBHBvcwMzBHNlYwNmaWRlbGl0eUZQBHNsawNzdHJlc3NlZHN0YXQ-?mod=fidelity-readytoretire&cat=fidelity_2010_getting_ready_to_retire
Friday, July 23, 2010
Things that increase happiness in retirement
Some folks emailed me a story from Yahoo finance, which was provided initially by US News.
It is called 7 secrets to a happy retirement. While most of the "secrets" are obvious, one thing that impressed me was the Greenwich study, which concluded that having kids or grandkids does not have any impact on a retiree's level of contentment, while having friends increased happiness "by 30%".
Link: http://finance.yahoo.com/focus-retirement/article/110136/secrets-to-happy-retirement;_ylt=Aq.xzzcXRO7ThJoQp08T3NS7YWsA;_ylu=X3oDMTE1MHU4NmluBHBvcwMzBHNlYwNmaWRlbGl0eUZQBHNsawM3a2V5c3RvYWhhcHA-?mod=fidelity-livingretirement
It is called 7 secrets to a happy retirement. While most of the "secrets" are obvious, one thing that impressed me was the Greenwich study, which concluded that having kids or grandkids does not have any impact on a retiree's level of contentment, while having friends increased happiness "by 30%".
Good health. Enjoying good health is the single most important factor impacting retiree happiness, according to a 2009 Watson Wyatt analysis. Retirees in poor health are nearly 50 percent less likely to report being happy, trumping all other factors including money and age.
A significant other. The same study found that married or cohabiting couples are more likely than singles to be happy in retirement. The news gets even better for couples enjoying retirement together. Retirees whose partners are also retired report being happier than those with a working partner, according to research conducted earlier this year at the University of Greenwich.
A social network. The Greenwich study also found that having friends was far more important to retirement bliss than having kids. Those who have strong social networks are 30 percent happier with their lives than those without a strong network of friends. Having kids or grandkids had no impact on a retiree's level of contentment.
They are not addicted to television. After you retire you will have lots of time to fill. If you want to be happy in retirement, don't fill that time with endless hours of television. Heavy TV viewers report lower satisfaction with their lives, according to a 2005 study published by the Institute for Empirical Research in Economics in Zurich. The same results were found again in 2008 by researchers at the University of Maryland. In that study, a direct negative correlation was found between the amount of TV watching and happiness levels: unhappy people watched more TV and happy people watched less.
Intellectual curiosity. Adults over 70 who choose brain-stimulating hobbies over TV watching are two and a half times less likely to suffer the effects of Alzheimer's disease, according to Richard Stim and Ralph Warner's book Retire Happy: What You Can Do Now to Guarantee a Great Retirement. Not only will shunning TV make you happier, it will make you healthier. Good health will in turn make you happier -- a not-so-vicious cycle.
They aren't addicted to achievement. The more you are defined by your job, the harder it will be to adjust to life without it. According to Robert Delamontagne's book The Retiring Mind: How to Make the Psychological Transition to Retirement, achievement addicts have the most difficulty transitioning to retirement.
Enough money. Of course you'll need enough money to support your chosen lifestyle in retirement. But beyond that, more money will not make you happier. The Watson Wyatt survey found that the absolute amount of money you have for retirement is less important than how your retirement income compares to your income before retirement. If you have enough to continue your pre-retirement lifestyle, you have enough.
If you don't have the traits necessary for a happy retirement, don't despair. There's good news for you, too. Consider a retirement that includes a little work. Researchers at the University of Maryland found that retirees who go back to work either full or part-time are healthier. The benefits don't depend on how many hours you work. Even temporary work has the same positive impact on health. If you can't find a paying job, don't worry. A growing body of research shows that retirees who volunteer reap the same benefits of health, happiness, and longevity. And since a happy retirement is a healthy retirement, you'll be set up to enjoy both.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
40% of the baby boomers have been through a divorce at least once
Interesting statistics:
Baby boomers are more likely to get married multiple times than younger or older couples because they also are more likely to have gotten divorced. Almost 40% of boomers who have been married have gone through at least one divorce, according to 2004 Census data, the most recent available, while only about 30% of all people who have been married have been divorced. By their 50th birthday, 27% of boomers have moved on to their second or third marriage.
Baby boomers are more likely to get married multiple times than younger or older couples because they also are more likely to have gotten divorced. Almost 40% of boomers who have been married have gone through at least one divorce, according to 2004 Census data, the most recent available, while only about 30% of all people who have been married have been divorced. By their 50th birthday, 27% of boomers have moved on to their second or third marriage.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
7 ways your body changes with age
Interesting article at LiveScience.com
The poster child of aging seems to be a wrinkly-faced, forgetful, grumpy old man. But science is painting another, more in-depth picture of aging Americans. The elderly tend to become more happy, liberal and in many cases remain pretty darn sharp. Here are 7 ways we change as we get older.
--Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Managing Editor
Check out the full story at
http://www.livescience.com/culture/7-mind-body-aging-changes-100402.html
The poster child of aging seems to be a wrinkly-faced, forgetful, grumpy old man. But science is painting another, more in-depth picture of aging Americans. The elderly tend to become more happy, liberal and in many cases remain pretty darn sharp. Here are 7 ways we change as we get older.
--Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Managing Editor
Check out the full story at
http://www.livescience.com/culture/7-mind-body-aging-changes-100402.html
Monday, May 3, 2010
Retirement Center - The Center for Retirement Planning and Ideas
Over the next five years 80 million of Americans will reach legal retirement age and will become eligible for social security and will tap into the retirement savings and pension plans. Few people realize that with the recent medical and biopharmaceutical breakthroughs and the new health care legislation the baby boomers will have unprecedented life expectancy with maximal life spans shooting way past 120. Here we discuss ways to prepare for and capitalize on this emerging demographic trend.
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