Older couple looking concerned sitting on a couch

As U.S. financial firms push toward embedding life annuities in 401(k) plans, it is useful to assess the risks, as well as the gains, associated with making annuitization the default distribution option. While default strategies have proven highly effective during the accumulation phase, approaches that work well for retirement saving may have unintended adverse consequences…

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Medicare receives too little attention. While the Trustees’ Report on Social Security makes headlines, commentary on Medicare is relegated to the back pages. Yet Medicare is a huge and growing program, operating in an expensive environment. In 11 years, the country is slated to pay more for Medicare than Social Security…

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I clean the filter on my septic system twice per year – an awful job that I handle myself because...

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Market optimism may be masking deep retirement risks. Planning for retirement has always been hard, but when government policy is...

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Since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, AI’s potential impact on labor markets has been a growing worry. This concern has centered on the replacement of workers, with a special focus on younger…

This year’s Social Security Trustees Report has taken a major step towards offering a more realistic assessment of Social Security’s financial status. Unfortunately, the Trustees “offsetting” assumptions mask the full impact of their important changes…

State and local government workers have traditionally had defined benefit (DB) pensions that insulate them from the stock market and ensure that they do not outlive their savings. Funding these plans, however, has become burdensome for many governments, with costs rising dramatically in the immediate wake of the 2008 financial crisis and continuing to grow…

CRR IN THE NEWS

AI with a digital brain in a lightbulb with human icons in wooden blocks for AI vs human competition

Artificial intelligence has prompted concerns that workers – particularly young professionals – could be replaced by advancing technology. Yet signs are emerging that older workers are also affected.

USA social security card overflowing with cash to illustrate budget crisis

The trustees of Social Security and Medicare recently estimated that the retirement trust fund would run out of money earlier than they estimated last year.