Targeting Pensions and Retirement Savings

This is a story to make you weep.

Several years ago a Portland, Oregon public schools retiree hired financial adviser Shayne Kniss to help him with retirement planning. The retiree would seem to have had no need for Mr. Kniss's services. He already had a guaranteed life pension coming from his years of public service. But Kniss talked him into cashing out the guaranteed pension and turning the resulting $729,000 into an investment account in his Iris Capital firm. Kniss confidently estimated 8-12% returns, which would have been higher than the guaranteed pension payments.

Continue reading source article here.

Damian J. Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

Women and Retirement

Retirement planning is important for all Americans, but the importance is heightened for women. The retirement deck is stacked against women in several ways, including generally lower pay compared to men and lower Social Security benefits upon retirement. Social components include greater likelihood of caregiving responsibilities resulting in increased part-time work or time out of the workforce. Since women outlive men by 4.8 years on average, they also have a longer retirement period.

Continue reading source article here.

Damian Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755 

Women and Retirement

Retirement planning is important for all Americans, but the importance is heightened for women. The retirement deck is stacked against women in several ways, including generally lower pay compared to men and lower Social Security benefits upon retirement. Social components include greater likelihood of caregiving responsibilities resulting in increased part-time work or time out of the workforce. Since women outlive men by 4.8 years on average, they also have a longer retirement period.

Continue reading source article here. 

Damian Sylvia

Founder

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

How to Play 'Retirement Catch-Up' If You Had a Late Start

You've celebrated your 40th birthday (or better).

Now that you're older and wiser, you decide to start learning about retirement planning. You assume you still have plenty of time. After all, retirement is more than a decade away.

You start reading about retirement planning -- and your stomach churns. Every article and book says that you were supposed to start saving in your 20s. Oops. It's too late for that. You're firmly in the middle of life, and your retirement savings are meager.

How can you catch up, if you've had a late start? Here are a few tips.

Continue reading source article here. 

The Great Illusion of Retirement Savings

The nation is facing a looming retirement income crisis. Average retirees today are not well off. Tomorrow's average senior is likely to be in worse shape.

Instead of addressing this looming crisis, too many of the nation's policymakers and elites propose to make it worse. They tell the American people that Social Security's earned benefits must be cut, despite their modest size. They tell public-sector workers that their pensions are unaffordable, despite the fact that workers have already earned those benefits, indeed foregoing current compensation in the process.

Continue reading the source article at HuffingtonPost.com.

Damian J. Sylvia

Managing Partner
Retirement Income Solutions