Are Millennials Heading For A Retirement Crisis, Too?

We’ve heard over and over that many boomers will face a retirement crisis (if they haven’t already). But if you’re a boomer parent, you’re probably wondering: Will my kids’ generation, the Millennials, face one, too?

Of course, it’s way to early to say for sure either way. After all, these 83.1 million Americans are only 19 to 35. But based on the Wells Fargo Millennial Study released today and other data I’ve reviewed, I’d say that quite a few Millennials just may be heading towards a retirement crisis.

The good news: Unlike the boomers, Gen Y has enough time to reverse course.

Continue reading source article here.

Damian Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

Millennials challenged by funding modern retirement

Today's 20-somethings face some challenging dilemmas when it comes to saving for retirement.

Not only must they fund their own retirements due to the near evaporation of company pensions, they also are saddled with more student-loan debt, stagnant wages and higher living expenses compared to a generation ago. And at the same time — in another departure from their parents' and grandparents' experience at the same age — they want to ... well, spend more time enjoying life.

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Damian J. Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

Millennials' new retirement number? $1.8 million (or more!)

Millennials have more than enough financial worries. Now they can add about 2 million more to their list. That's how much many might need to save to retire.

Older Millennials — those born in the early 1980s — will need about $1.8 million salted away to maintain their standard of living in retirement while younger Millennials — those born in the late 1990s — will need upwards of $2.5 million, according to various studies, estimates and experts.

Continue reading source article here.

Damian Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

 

How to Pay School Loans and Save for Retirement at the Same Time

The best time to start saving for retirement is as soon as possible. By saving in your early 20s, you give your nest egg extra time to grow, potentially shaving years off how long you need to work.

But before setting aside money for retirement, most feel the need to retire student loan debt. That’s easy to say but harder to do for millennials exiting college these days. Many are in the same boat as Nolan Grace, a 24-year-old who graduated from Purdue University with “very significant” loans. “It’s the biggest weight on my life right now,” he says.

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Damian J. Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755 

Debunking the Myths of How Millennials Save for Retirement

“First of all, Millennials are just so important, from a retirement and a savings perspective… all they know really is DC (defined contribution) plans like 401(K)s, and that means that they own the outcomes, so we have to get it right, we have to help them make retirement work and that is why we dedicated this survey to them,” Fredrik Axsater, State Street Head of Defined Contribution explained to the FOX Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo.

Continue reading source article here.

Damian J. Sylvia

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755 

What Americans Are Saving For -- It's Not Retirement

Olivia Wood, a Millennial social media specialist for a community bank in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, is saving for a trip to Iceland. “I want to be able to travel while I’m young, so I stay ahead of the curve, and always have a little extra for spontaneous trips,” @oliviawood_610 tweeted in a chat promoting America Saves Week. She uses Intuit’s @mint app to help budget and track spending, treats savings as a monthly bill, and sleeps on big purchases. Retirement savings? That’s next on her agenda.

Continue reading source article here.

Damian J. Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755 

Some Surprisingly Good News About Retirement--Sort Of

The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College isn’t usually the place to go for retirement happy talk. Its National Retirement Risk Index classifies 52% of working age households as at risk of not being able to maintain their living standards when they stop working. Worse, it figures that if all workers had started out with the student debt the Millennials carry, 56% would be at risk.

But a new CRR issue brief reaches a seemingly upbeat conclusion: the vast majority of folks who retire aren’t being pushed out of the workforce by ill health, bad bosses, or age discrimination . Instead, they’re being pulled into retirement by the allure of spending more time with family and on other activities they enjoy.“People are being pulled towards positive things. That’s what keeps people at work or pulls them into retirement,’’ says Steven A. Sass, the CRR economist who wrote the new brief.

Continue reading source article here.

Damian J. Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

The real reason many millennials aren’t saving for retirement

Millennials are oft-maligned as a flighty, entitled generation saddled with debt and too obsessed with food and travel to worry about saving for retirement. But that doesn’t match the reality.

Young people are just as likely — or even more likely — than other generations to sock their money away. And new research points to one major reason more 20- and 30-somethings aren’t creating a nest egg, even if they might want to.

Continue reading source article here.

Damian J. Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

 

How Does Your Student Loan Debt Threaten Your Retirement?

What if members of working-age households had been burdened with the same level of student loan debt as students leaving college today?

That’s the question modeled by researchers in a new study that concludes significantly more households would be running the risk of not having enough income during retirement.

Researchers Alicia H. Munnell, Wenliang Hou and Anthony Webb at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College asked, “Will the Explosion of Student Debt Widen the Retirement Security Gap?”

The answer was a resounding yes. If working-age households had started out with today’s student loan debt levels, an index measuring the risk of not having enough income for retirement would now be at 56.2 percent, instead of 51.6 percent.

Continue reading source article.

Damian J. Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755 

7 ways Millennials can get a jump-start on retirement planning

It’s quite fashionable these days to moralize about the shortcomings of the entire Millennial generation. And the latest fodder for critics is a recent survey by finance site HowMuch.net that shows more than 50% of those ages 18 to 34 have less than $1,000 in savings.

But before you wag a finger at those young whippersnappers, keep in mind the hard reality is that Americans of every age stink at saving. According to finance portal Go Banking Rates, 62% of all Americans have less than $1,000 saved.

Continue reading source article here.

Damian J. Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

 

3 tips to getting retirement right in your 20s

I’m in my 20s and would like to start taking steps to ensure a secure retirement and financial future. But like many people in my generation I’m confused about where to start, who to contact and what to do. Can you point me in the right direction? –S.V.

I’m not surprised that you’re confused. Now that your generation has become a prime target audience for the financial industry’s products and services, hardly a day goes by that one study or another doesn’t purport to offer insights into what Millennials are doing, should be doing or shouldn’t be doing about their finances.

Unfortunately, these insights aren’t always consistent. Some surveys claim Millennials are poor savers; others say they’re more diligent than boomers. Some research warns that Millennials are investing far too conservatively.

Continue reading article here.

Damian J.  Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

3 Retirement Problems and Solutions That Millennials Face Today

It's no secret that millennials have had a tough time getting started with careers, families and saving for retirement.

Everything from the Great Recession, to the rising cost of higher education, to the increasing scarcity of better-paying jobs has taken its toll on people born in the last two decades of the 20th century.

And while retirement may be three to four decades away for even the oldest of this bunch, there are some very real problems that they will face if they don't take action soon. Let's look at three:

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Damian J. Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Monmouth Road

Oakhurst, NJ 07755

How Your Retirement Account Balance Compares to Your Peers

Your age often dictates your retirement saving priorities. In your 20s and 30s, you need to get some money into a retirement account so that it can start growing on your behalf. Once you have accumulated a significant nest egg, it becomes increasingly important to protect what you've got. And after you retire, you need to sensibly draw down your assets so that your nest egg lasts the rest of your life. Here are some strategies to give your retirement finances a boost at each stage of your life.

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Damian Sylvia

Retirement Income Solutions

220 Oakhurst, NJ 07755 

3 ways to get retirement ready in your 20s

As a 20-year-old, saving for retirement can easily fall to the bottom of the priorities list.

College graduates must focus on repaying their loans and paying rent wherever they may have moved for a career, although several would rather backpack and see the world before making their next career moves. Add to all of those ambitions potentially accrued debt and it could spell a recipe for disaster.

However, despite all of their immediate financial needs and responsibilities, 20-year-olds have the greatest opportunity to ensure a successful retirement if they start on the right path.

Continue reading source article on MarketWatch.com.

Damian Sylvia

Managing Partner

Retirement Income Solutions

Why putting off retirement savings until you make more money is a big mistake

People in their 20s have a list of excuses for putting off saving for retirement: Their paychecks are too small. They don’t know how long they’ll stay with a company. Why worry now about something that feels a million years away?

But a report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute drives home the point that waiting until you’re older and making more money to start saving for retirement could be a bad call.

Continue reading source article at WashingtonPost.com.

Damian Sylvia

Managing Partner

Retirement Income Solutions