News from the web
February 22, 2012ING Study: Target Date Fund Investors More Confident About Reaching Their Retirement Goals
News from the web:
A new study(1) from ING U.S. found that workplace retirement plan investors who used target date funds felt more secure about reaching their retirement goals and managing their portfolios than those who did not. Nearly three-quarters (71%) of target date investors indicated that target date funds made them feel more confident that they were making sound investment decisions.
The study was commissioned by ING Investment Management U.S. and the ING Retirement Research Institute.
Target date funds provide investors with automatic asset allocation over time through the convenience of a single age- and risk-appropriate investment. With a simplified approach to investing, target date funds have become increasingly popular among employers that sponsor retirement plans and their participants. Industry data shows that target date assets have grown from $15 billion in 2002 to $363 billion in 2011.(2)
When asked about various features available in target date funds, all respondents showed a strong preference for those that are managed by multiple investment managers and are able to provide a guaranteed income stream at retirement. More than nine-in-ten (93%) of target date investors and nearly three-quarters (71%) of those who did not use them would want a target date fund that provides stronger protection against market losses in the years leading up to and including retirement. Additionally, eight-in-ten (80%) of respondents using targets date funds and two-thirds (66%) of those not using them would prefer less market risk at that stage of the investment cycle.
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February 21, 2012Retire, or ‘work til you drop’?
News from the web:
When Paula Symons joined the U.S. workforce in 1972, typewriters in her office clacked nonstop, people answered the telephones and the hot new technology revolutionizing communication was the fax machine.
Symons, fresh out of college, entered this brave new world thinking she’d do pretty much what her parents’ generation did: Work for just one or two companies over about 45 years before bidding farewell to co-workers at a retirement party and heading off into her sunset years with a pension.
Forty years into that run, the 60-year-old communications specialist for a Wisconsin-based insurance company has worked more than a half-dozen jobs. She’s been laid off, downsized and seen the pension disappear with only a few thousand dollars accrued when it was frozen.
So, five years from the age when people once retired, she laughs when she describes her future plans.
Read the whole story HERE
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February 20, 2012Earlier drawdowns give idea of what’s to come
News from the web:
The Army’s drawdown of 80,000 soldiers planned for the next six years has several similarities to the drawdown after the Cold War.
One big difference: The Army had 770,000 soldiers on active duty in November 1989 when the Berlin Wall fell. That’s about 200,000 more than in December, when the last Humvees and MRAPs rolled out of Iraq.
Here are some things soldiers may see in this drawdown that the Army has experience with:
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visit us at: RetiredResources.com