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Workshop Registration
The Reynolds Center has announced its 2009-10 free workshop schedule.
Select a workshop and register from the drop-down menu below.
Online Seminars
The Reynolds Center registration for Fall 2009 free online seminars.
Hooked on Kindle
By Chris Roush
Tracking the Business Behind the Tomato
By Jonathan Higuera
Five Questions with Bill Choyke
By Jonathan Higuera
Finding the Economy's Silver Lining
By Dick Weiss
Double Whammy: Oil and Housing
By Jennifer Hopfinger
Coverage Points: Retirement Confidence Survey
By Jonathan Higuera
April 9, 2008 02:15 PM
With the economy in the doldrums, it isn’t surprising that the results of the annual Retirement Confidence Survey, released Wednesday by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, were more negative overall than last year. Still, the size of the percentage drops and some of the underlying reasons are noteworthy.
The survey found that only 18 percent of workers were very confident about having enough money to fund a comfortable retirement. That’s down from 27 percent the year before.
The number of workers who felt very confident they would have enough to cover basic expenses in retirement decreased to 34 percent, six percentage points below the previous year.
EBRI researchers said the confidence drop was the largest in the 18-year history of the survey. Secondly, health care costs are proving to be a major reason why retirees and workers alike are less confident of enjoying their golden years.
The results may also indicate that people are being more realistic about what it takes to fund their retirement, said Mathew Greenwald, head of the group that carried out the survey, concluding that much of the confidence in recent years was “false confidence.”
“They (survey respondents) will either get a more realistic sense of the accumulation needed or they will get discouraged and fall back even farther,” he said.
As personal finance and business reporters, the findings should lead us to do retirement stories that do more than just scratch the surface. We must, unfortunately, share and reveal some sobering news.
For example, some studies suggest retirees may need $200,000 to $250,000 just to cover non-nursing home medical needs.
“In general, people do not do enough analysis of what they really need in retirement,” said Jerri Stroud, a business writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, who may use some of the findings as fodder for her weekly personal finance column. “Many just don’t have a realistic idea of what it takes to support their lifestyle.”
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Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism
The Reynolds Center has announced its 2009-10 free workshop schedule.
Select a workshop and register from the drop-down menu below.
The Reynolds Center registration for Fall 2009 free online seminars.
By Chris Roush
Tracking the Business Behind the Tomato
By Jonathan Higuera
Five Questions with Bill Choyke
By Jonathan Higuera
Finding the Economy's Silver Lining
By Dick Weiss
Double Whammy: Oil and Housing
By Jennifer Hopfinger
Coverage Points: Retirement Confidence Survey
By Jonathan HigueraApril 9, 2008 02:15 PM
With the economy in the doldrums, it isn’t surprising that the results of the annual Retirement Confidence Survey, released Wednesday by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, were more negative overall than last year. Still, the size of the percentage drops and some of the underlying reasons are noteworthy.
The survey found that only 18 percent of workers were very confident about having enough money to fund a comfortable retirement. That’s down from 27 percent the year before.
The number of workers who felt very confident they would have enough to cover basic expenses in retirement decreased to 34 percent, six percentage points below the previous year.
EBRI researchers said the confidence drop was the largest in the 18-year history of the survey. Secondly, health care costs are proving to be a major reason why retirees and workers alike are less confident of enjoying their golden years.
The results may also indicate that people are being more realistic about what it takes to fund their retirement, said Mathew Greenwald, head of the group that carried out the survey, concluding that much of the confidence in recent years was “false confidence.”
“They (survey respondents) will either get a more realistic sense of the accumulation needed or they will get discouraged and fall back even farther,” he said.
As personal finance and business reporters, the findings should lead us to do retirement stories that do more than just scratch the surface. We must, unfortunately, share and reveal some sobering news.
For example, some studies suggest retirees may need $200,000 to $250,000 just to cover non-nursing home medical needs.
“In general, people do not do enough analysis of what they really need in retirement,” said Jerri Stroud, a business writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, who may use some of the findings as fodder for her weekly personal finance column. “Many just don’t have a realistic idea of what it takes to support their lifestyle.”
Copyright © 2008 Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism