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Seniors are getting locked out of Social Security, because they don’t text
For some seniors, their texting skills – or lack thereof – are locking them out of their Social Security accounts because of a new security measure added this week. Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2016/08/05/retirement/social-security-texting/index.html?iid=hp-stack-dom
Keeping Perspective: Look at Both Short-Term and Long-Term
San Diego Union Tribune headline: “Who funds California’s public pension systems? See where San Diego retirement funds fall in statewide database”
This U-T article is a snapshot of one Fiscal Year based on Census Bureau reporting. Given the volatility of the market and investments in long term public retirement systems, it would make more sense to track these measures over several years. This article reports investment earnings for state and local pension plans in 2015 were 45%; similar Census data for 2014 showed investment returns were more than 75%. Read article: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/jul/05/public-pensions/
Painting California Pension Systems with Broad Brushstrokes is Misleading
San Diego Union Tribune headline:
“Poor returns hasten pension reckoning
San Diego County investments miss targets for second year”
Read this article with some skepticism. The U-T and this columnist never miss an opportunity to bash public defined benefit pensions. Even though Mr. McSwain gives the County Retirement system credit for improving and reducing risky investments, he unfairly paints all California pension systems with the same broad negative brush. Although many retirement plans in the state have been chronically underfunded by employers, San Diego County’s has not. And it is a huge misrepresentation to allege that rising pension payments are rapidly crowding out money for essential government spending. Read article: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/jul/23/san-diego-county-pension-investment-peformance/
CalPERS is well prepared for market’s ups and downs
This commentary in the Sacramento Bee from Rob Feckner, President of the CalPERS board of administration, was a response to a column from long time legislative reporter Dan Walters and a guest opinion from former San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed. Both Walters and Reed forecast a bleak fiscal future for CalPERS, citing the meager 0.61% investment return number it announced for 2015, which is well below CalPERS’ assumed rate of 7.5%. Both public pension detractors say California pension systems are woefully underfunded and getting worse. Feckner, on the other hand, argues that everyone had a bad year in a down market, and that CalPERS invests for the long term and has taken steps to mitigate volatility and make sure it meets its obligations to millions of state and local retirees. Read Rob Feckner’s commentary in the Sacramento Bee: http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article92664472.html
Could you live on $32K per year? Many retirees do
A recently released survey estimates median annual household income among retirees is $32,000, and more than half of retirees (53 percent) live on less than $50,000, according to “The Current State of Retirement: A Compendium of Findings about American Retirees.” Read more: http://www.app.com/story/money/personal-finance/2016/07/24/retirement-costs/87091594/