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Choose to Save offers the ‘The Ballpark E$timate’ for retirement savers

October 14, 2008

The

Choose to Save has a retirement calculator on there website that estimates current savings rates required for a given retirement date and payout: The Ballpark E$timate

Choose to Save is a program of the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s Education and Research Fund.

Written by Bear · Filed Under Featured, Repair 

From MarketWatch: Pensions vs 401(k)s in light of the current crisis

October 13, 2008

Marketwatch highlighted the uncertainty of defined contribution plans today in an article entitled “Financial Crisis Recasts Debate on Pensions Versus 401(k)s”. Among observations made was:

“The current environment underscores some latent employer risks with 401(k) plans,” says Glickstein. “For example, they make it harder for companies to predict who will retire and when. Employees who mostly rely on 401(k)s are also more likely to worry about their financial security, creating an additional drain on morale and productivity during turbulent times.”

Written by Bear · Filed Under Defined Contribution, Featured 

Canadian pensions take worst hit in 10 years

October 11, 2008

No surprise here. Both defined contribution and defined benefit plans in Canada are taking it on the chin. A release by Canwest News Service outlines the carnage suffered by Canadian pension funds in 3Q2008. The article, entitled ‘Canadian pensions take worst hit in 10 years‘ sites a 6% drop in the Mercer index, which shows the ratio of assets to liabilities in a model pension plan.

“The financial health of Canadian pension plans was markedly worse as the market tumbled through the end of September,” consulting firm Mercer said, noting that its pension health index was down six per cent at the end of September from the end of the second quarter, and about 10 per cent for the year.”

It is projected to have fallen to 70% by 9 October. The article goes on the say that,

“According to one estimate, company pension funds have lost about $50 billion over the past six months in the stock market, while individuals have lost an estimated $30 billion.”

Underfunded defined benefit plans could pay pensioners according to the level of funding, which would have current retirees walking away with a pension valued at 70% of the promised value.

Defined contribution plans are typically following the markets, which would put many retirees’ portfolios  40% short in Mid October.

Written by Bear · Filed Under Featured, Public Pensions 

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