December 2025

US. Research Finds Slowdown in Spending During Retirement

Retirement spending is dynamic, with 60% of new retirees seeing their annual expenses fluctuate by more than 20% in the first three years, according to the J.P. Morgan Asset Management report, “Retirement by the Numbers.” “This means that compared to periods just before retirement, they see a 20% jump—up or down—in their annual spending compared to that baseline right before they retire,” Michael Conrath, J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s chief retirement strategist wrote in an email. Older retirees, aged 75 to 80,...

US. New House Bill Revives Push for Automatic Retirement Accounts for Uncovered Workers

Representative Richard Neal D-Massachusetts reintroduced a bill Monday that would mandate employers with 10 or more workers to automatically enroll employees in individual retirement accounts, unless the company already provides a retirement plan. Neal, the ranking member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, said in a statement that the bill would create a retirement savings option for gig workers and other independent contractors who do not have access to defined contribution retirement accounts. “Automatic IRAs are simple and effective, and they have...

US. Retirement Accounts Are The Country’s Emergency Funds

The Charade That “Retirement” Accounts Are For Retirement It’s time we stop the charade. Congress should rename 401(k)s and IRAs what they really are: "Emergency Savings Accounts for the Poor and Middle Class." Because that’s how they function for the bottom 90% of American workers. A new Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) report confirms what retirement experts have long understood: Americans are draining their 401(k)s to survive today, sacrificing tomorrow's security. The study reveals where borrowed retirement dollars actually go—not toward...

November Delivers Mixed Results for Pension Finances

Pension finances experienced a modest pullback in November, marking the first negative month since March, according to October Three Consulting’s “November Pension Finance Update.” Meanwhile, some measures reported a small increase in funding levels over the same period. Both model plans October Three tracks lost ground last month. Plan A, a traditional 60/40 equity/bond allocation, lost almost 1%, ending November up 6% for the year. The more conservative Plan B, comprised of 80% bonds, lost a fraction of 1% last...

US. Why everything you think you know about retirement is wrong

Millions of Americans are terrified they won’t have enough money to retire — but a leading expert has some good news. Some 89 percent of Americans worry the country is in the grips of a 'retirement crisis,' according to a 2023 survey by the American Advisors Group. Some argue that the established system of 401(K)s and individual retirement accounts (IRAs) layered on top of Social Security is an abject failure in desperate need of a reboot. But Andrew G. Biggs says the opposite is...

The latest retirement in the world: which country has it and how far is the US?

Countries with low official retirement ages tend to have high effective retirement ages, meaning that people tend to work until their mid-60s, regardless of where they live. Such nations include Australia, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United States. But it is Libya that has the highest official retirement age, set at 70 years. Denmark will soon match the African country with the highest official retirement age in the world, that is, the age at which a person can access their full government...

EEUU: Un sindicato denunció riesgos para fondos de pensiones en la estructura del mercado cripto

La Federación Americana de Profesores (AFT), un sindicato que defiende a los educadores en Estados Unidos, ha expresado su oposición a la legislación sobre la estructura del mercado de criptomonedas que se está tramitando en el Senado, alegando que "amenaza la estabilidad de su seguridad en la jubilación". En una carta enviada el lunes a los líderes republicanos y demócratas del Comité Bancario del Senado de Estados Unidos, facilitada por la CNBC, la AFT se opuso a la aprobación de...

US. Major labor union warns new bill could put retirement savings at risk

The fight over how the U.S. should regulate digital assets escalated this week after one of the country’s largest labor unions warned Congress that a new crypto bill could put retirement savings at risk. At the same time, Wall Street is beginning to experiment with tokenized stocks, the very scenario unions say the legislation fails to control. Tokenized stocks are digital versions of real company shares that live on a blockchain but still represent the same ownership and rights as traditional...

US Workforce Is Aging Fastest in These Industries

The U.S. workforce is aging, and workers who are 55 or older have been the fastest-growing age group in the labor force for more than two decades, according to new research by the U.S. Census Bureau. Those aged 55 or older made up almost a quarter (24 percent) of the U.S. workforce in 2022, which was up from 10 percent in 1994. The data also revealed which industries have greater concentrations of older workers than others. Why It Matters There is growing concern about America's...

US. AIC President in Fortune: “Private equity is an essential part of solving our country’s retirement crisis”

Yesterday, Fortune published an op-ed by Will Dunham, President and CEO of the American Investment Council, highlighting how expanding Americans’ access to private markets through their 401(k)s can play a key role in solving the retirement crisis. The op-ed cites data from a new AIC report showing that private equity has delivered stronger returns compared to public markets and other asset classes over 5-, 10-, 15-, and 20-year time horizons, even when accounting for fees. Some key takeaways from Will’s op-ed are outlined below: Read...