retirement

The Fiscal Crisis of Families

Posted on 02/28/2013 by Debra Whitman | Public Policy | Comments

Money & SavingsWashington and the news media have long been focused on a series of budget deadlines and fiscal dramas. But a different headline stood out for me the other day, as I read a story in the Washington Post: “Fiscal Trouble Ahead for Most Future Retirees.” The story provided dramatic support for recent findings of AARP’s Public Policy Institute that the security of middle class Americans is under attack from all sides. AARP’s Middle Class Security Project and the Post article …

Retirement Home for Research Chimps Faces Money Woes

Posted on 02/20/2013 by Associated Press | General News | Comments

Bulletin TodayBy Janet McConnaughey of The Associated Press KEITHVILLE, La. (AP) — For the first time in their lives, four aging chimpanzees once used in federal research can go outside whenever they like. They can lie on the grass, clamber onto a platform 20 feet up on a chimp-style jungle gym and gaze freely at the open sky, the vista unbroken by steel bars. Fifty-two-year-olds Julius and Sandy, 46-year-old Phyllis and 44-year-old Jessica have arrived. These and several other primates are …

Young People Say They’ll Do Better Than Their Parents

Posted on 02/4/2013 by Tamara Lytle | Washington Watch | Comments

Bulletin TodayA generation of pessimists has spawned an enthusiastically upbeat generation of kids. A newly released Gallup Poll shows that only 5 percent of the children interviewed thought it was unlikely they would not have a better life than their parents. Adults surveyed last month for the USA/Today Gallup poll were split evenly on their hopes for the future of their children. A full 43 percent of the children polled, grades 5 through 12, thought it was very likely they would do …

More Americans Support Aging Parents — And Grown Kids

Posted on 01/30/2013 by Amy Goyer | Aging, Home & Family Expert | Comments

Caregiving | Home & Family | Money & Savings | RelationshipsFor many years, we’ve thought of the “sandwich generation” as people who are taking care of older parents while raising young children of their own. But that seems to be changing. Many people today are taking care of their moms and dads— and, increasingly, their grown kids who still need financial help. So even though their nests are empty, their wallets are quickly emptying too. According to a new Pew Research Center report released today: Nearly half (47%) of adults age 40-59 have a parent 65 or …

7 Reasons Your Retirement Might Be in Jeopardy

Posted on 01/15/2013 by Tamara Lytle | Washington Watch | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal Health | Politics | WorkFeeling uneasy about ever getting the middle-class retirement you planned on? Trust your instincts. The nation’s middle class is taking a beating, according to new reports by the AARP Public Policy Institute. Just how bad is it? “The decline of the middle class threatens our ability to fund health and retirement programs, to maintain a safety net for the most vulnerable and to invest in our future,” says AARP CEO A. Barry Rand. Most Americans consider themselves “middle class,” so …

Why Inflation Matters for Social Security

Posted on 12/13/2012 by Jonathan Peterson | Social Security | Comments

Bulletin Today | Money & Savings | PoliticsOne of Social Security’s great strengths is that it offers meaningful protection against inflation. Each year, the program considers how prices are rising [as measured by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers]. If prices go up, the Social Security benefits people have earned tend to be adjusted as well. For a typical household, this protection is huge – a point I tried to emphasize in my book, “Social Security for Dummies.” It helps people keep …