5 Ways to Boost a 401(k)
Since the advent of defined contribution plans 30 years ago, the responsibility of saving for retirement has fallen largely on employees’ shoulders. Many employers are freezing or terminating costly pension plans in favor of 401(k)s and similar plans, according to a Prudential Financial Inc. survey. If you’re looking to catch up or get ahead on saving for retirement, there are steps you can take to do that, including the five that...
Workers Are Saving More for Retirement, Led By Millennials
New York — Workers are saving more for retirement, and the youngest — not exactly known for squirreling money away — are boosting their savings rates faster than any other age group. Millennials between the ages of 25 and 34 are saving a median of 7.5 percent of their pay for retirement, including whatever match they get from their jobs, according to a survey by Fidelity Investments of 4,650 households with at least $20,000 of annual...
Saving for Retirement As a Stay-At-Home Parent
Doing the math on becoming a stay-at-home parent often involves tallying up child care, dry cleaning and takeout expenses and weighing how much of that second paycheck is eaten up by those costs. Many couples conclude that the profit margin for a second income doesn’t justify the emotional cost. Retirement, often decades away for couples with young kids, isn’t much of a factor in the discussion. But it came into focus recently for...
Some Millennials Socking Away 15%of Their Salary
Meet the Millennial Super Saver. He or she is an ordinary human, 18 to 34, who saves at least 15 percent of his or her salary each year in a 401(k) retirement savings plan. The mission: Save enough to retire comfortably. Or at least retire. An analysis by Fidelity Investments of the 13 million participants in 401(k) plans it administers found close to 421,000 of these young “super savers,” as Fidelity calls them, accounting for almost...
Many Americans One Crisis Away From Ruin
With people less worried these days about losing their jobs, Americans are feeling much better about their finances. Yet after the bills are paid, many people struggle to keep extra cash in the bank. Roughly one in four, or 29 percent, of Americans don’t have money set aside to cover emergencies, up from 26 percent last year, according to an annual survey from Bankrate.com. The findings pointed to the lowest saving rates seen in five...
