If you are like most people, you have not saved nearly enough money to maintain your standard of living once you retire from your job. According to a study from Fidelity Investments, the average retirement savings for 11.8 million 401k balances in America is just $74,600. In most cases, that is maybe the equivalent to a year’s salary. Certainly not enough to keep you in the life to which you have been accustomed for the twenty five or so years you will likely have left to live. If you are over 55 years old, you could be better off than the average of all retirement accounts, with the study showing you probably have about $130,000 in your … [Read more...]
Comparing a Pension vs 401k – What Are the Differences?
One of the biggest changes to hit retirement planning in the last 30 years has been the shift of defined benefit pension plans to 401k employer sponsored plans. Basically the difference between the pension vs 401k was that it shifted the responsibility of saving and planning for retirement from the employer to the employee. This transition started around the 1980’s after 401k plans were created and started gaining more popularity. As you can guess, this was a huge cost save for employers because they no longer had to administer and maintain the plans of their employees and retirees. Despite whether you think one is better than the other, … [Read more...]