August 2025
18Aug

How Many Americans Have Retirement Savings? The Answer May Surprise You.

Given the choice, most Americans would probably rather spend their extra money on entertainment, vacations, or home improvements than contribute to an IRA or 401(k). But without retirement savings, you risk struggling financially once your career comes to an end and you stop collecting a steady paycheck. If you're an average earner, you can expect your Social Security benefits to replace about 40% of your wages, assuming the program doesn't have to move forward with cuts. But it's typical for retirees to...

August 18, 2025
News, ,
Read more...
13Aug

US. The Silver Tsunami: Navigating Retirement Risk in a Declining Financial Literacy Landscape

As the global population ages, a quiet crisis is unfolding: financial literacy rates among older adults have plummeted to below 60%, a stark drop from 69.5% in 2020. This decline, driven by cognitive aging, digital disengagement, and inadequate educational resources, is creating a perfect storm for retirement planning. With 78% of retirees underestimating their life expectancy and $28 billion in U.S. scam losses reported in 2023 alone, the stakes for long-term financial resilience have never been higher. The erosion of...

August 13, 2025
News, , ,
Read more...
11Aug

The Silent Crisis: Aging Populations and the Retirement Security Imperative

The global demographic shift toward an aging population is no longer a distant forecast—it is a present-day reality. By 2025, over 16% of the world's population will be aged 65 or older, a figure projected to rise to 25% by 2050. Yet, as lifespans extend, so too does a parallel crisis: the erosion of financial literacy among the elderly. This decline, driven by cognitive aging, digital disengagement, and systemic gaps in education, is creating a perfect storm of vulnerability...

August 11, 2025
News,
Read more...
04Aug

This Bezos-Backed Real Estate Startup Is Quietly Disrupting the 401(k)

For decades, the 401(k) has been the gold standard of retirement planning in the U.S.—a slow-and-steady way to build wealth by investing in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds through your employer. But while that model has worked for millions, it's also left a lot to be desired: limited control, unpredictable returns, and almost no cash flow until you’re well into your 60s. That's why a new real estate investing platform backed by Jeff Bezos is turning heads—and quietly offering...

August 4, 2025
News, ,
Read more...

July 2025
24Jul

HSBC highlights trends shaping longevity economy, reveals factors driving wealth creation

HSBC hosted a Future Wealth Conference at The Rosewood Hong Kong earlier this month, bringing together industry leaders, financial experts and high-net-worth individuals to explore the forces reshaping wealth in an era of rapid change. The conference was an exclusive event for the bank’s Premier Elite clients. The conference, themed “Unpacking Trends, Unlocking Opportunities”, focused on three critical areas: the opportunities and challenges of extended lifespans, the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI), and the shifts seen in consumer behaviour,...

July 24, 2025
News, ,
Read more...
24Jul

EBRI: Long-Term Care One of the Most Under-Addressed Retirement Risks

In a July 22 webinar, the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Morningstar revealed that employees’ perceptions of long-term care needs, knowledge and accessibility of long-term services and supports, as well as longevity influence their financial readiness in retirement.  The webinar was based on findings from EBRI’s “Employee Long-Term Care Survey,” fielded in 2024, as well as results from Morningstar’s “The Overlooked Cost: How Long Term Services and Supports Impacts Retirement-Income Adequacy,” released in May.   “America is aging, yet nearly 40% of households...

July 24, 2025
News, ,
Read more...
18Jul

Developing Retirement Living Standards

By Matt Padley & Claire Shepherd The Retirement Living Standards (RLS), first published in 2019 and funded by the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), set out what the public agree is needed to retire at two living standards above a minimum standard of living, based on extensive research with members of the public. The research uses the established approach to defining minimum living standards pioneered at CRSP and describes in detail what the public agree single and partnered retirees...

July 18, 2025
Adequacy, Books, Books, Pension design, Reports, , , ,
Read more...
18Jul

Individuals’ challenges managing pensions through retirement

By Bee Boileau, Jonathan Cribb & Carl Emmerson This report is one of two reports on the management of pension wealth in retirement conducted as part of the Pensions Review, led by the Institute for Fiscal Studies in partnership with the abrdn Financial Fairness Trust. In this report, we examine the decisions that older individuals face as they draw on and manage their private pension wealth through retirement. In particular, we highlight the growing importance of defined contribution (DC) wealth,...

July 18, 2025
Books, Books, Pension design, Reports, , , ,
Read more...
16Jul

Paging Gen Z: It’s not a ‘micro-retirement.’ It’s a vacation

It’s July, and many Midwesterners are flocking to the lake, driving south to go to the beach, or simply sticking around to enjoy the fleeting hot weather at their local pool. Even Pope Leo XIV, arguably one of the busiest and most important people in the world, is taking a summer vacation. (True, his break includes six weeks off, something most of us can only dream of.) That’s why we were intrigued to see a new Gen Z term crop up. A...

July 16, 2025
News,
Read more...
11Jul

US. How Much Should You Have Saved for Retirement If You Live To 100

Planning for retirement requires an effective strategy that covers everything, including inflation, long-term healthcare, vacations, debt, the uncertainty of Social Security, taxes, the unexpected and living expenses. What makes it even more challenging is people are now outliving their savings because life expectancy is longer. According to a new survey from Allianz Life, 64% of Americans, mostly Gen Xers, worry more about not having enough money to cover their lifetime than they worry about dying. While many fear about running out of...

July 11, 2025
News, ,
Read more...