FYI: ( I will link episode, as soon as it becomes available early Sat. Morning)
Regards,
Ted
December 29, 2016
Dear WEALTHTRACK Subscriber,
As we bid farewell to the past year and prepare to welcome in the new, there is a critical financial issue that is being carried over. There has been no actual progress made, but there are solutions available if our political leaders have the will to implement them.
I am speaking about the retirement crisis, which is escalating as an estimated 10,000 thousand baby boomers a day turn 65. Two thirds, or 40 million, of the approximately 76 million boomers are already 65 or older, and Social Security, which nearly two-thirds of boomers cite as their major source of retirement income, is headed for insolvency.
Unless changes are made to Social Security in terms of increased funding and tighter eligibility, the program is projected to spend more than it earns by the end of this decade and will be completely depleted by 2034.
It’s not just baby boomers who are in trouble. With the demise of traditional pension plans and increased longevity younger Americans are facing enormous savings and retirement plan shortfalls as well, unless their savings and investing habits change. It is past time to address the crisis, which is why, as we celebrate the New Year, we are revisiting the topic with two retirement experts who are in the forefront of the efforts to solve it.
We’ll be joined by Brigitte Madrian, Professor of Public Policy and Corporate Management at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Since 2014 she has also been one of the 19 members of the Commission on Retirement Security and Personal Savings set up by the Bipartisan Policy Center. The commission of business, political and policy leaders recently issued its recommendations to reform Social Security, broaden access to workplace retirement plans and promote savings.
We’ll also hear from Fredrik Axsater, Global Head Of Defined Contribution at State Street Global Advisors which oversees more than $2 trillion in both actively managed and passive assets globally. About $300 billion of that is in global defined contribution plans. SSGA is the investment management arm of State Street Corporation. Axsater, who joined SSGA in 2011, has devoted his professional career to making retirement work for employers and employees around the world.
If you miss the show on air this week, you can always catch it on our website. We also have an EXTRA interview with both Madrian and Axsater, available exclusively online. As always, we welcome your feedback on Facebook, Twitter or via the Contact Us link on our website. We read all of your comments.
Thank you so much for sharing your time and comments with us over the past year. We look forward to continuing our mission of helping you build financial security to last a lifetime in 2017.
We wish you a wonderful New Year’s holiday. We hope you will join WEALTHTRACK in making the year ahead a profitable and productive one!
Best Regards,
Consuelo
