Foreclosure Nation

If you thought the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau had its hands full remedying the victims of mortgage abuse, guess what's probably next? Once the stock market starts sizzling again and Boomers may be deluded into thinking they can retire, there's not much that will stop a broker or insurance ...

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DES MOINES, Iowa — Americans who were afraid to open their 401(k) statements during the recession are finding good news inside the envelope now: For the most part, their accounts have come all the way back and then some. Nine in 10 of the popular retirement plans are at least back to where they wer...

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WASHINGTON -- Americans are more pessimistic than ever about their retirement prospects, with 27 percent of all workers saying they are "not at all confident" about retirement, according to a yearly survey released Tuesday by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. That's ...

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In its annual Retirement Confidence Survey, it found that worker expectations for their later years withered in the face of high unemployment, government budget problems, rising health care costs, lower investment returns and other factors. But the study's authors saw a silver lining in the finding...

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NEW YORK -- Most Americans have less than $25,000 saved up for retirement. And surprise!: Retirement confidence is at record lows. More than a quarter, or 27%, of workers say they are "not at all confident" about retirement, according to an annual survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute...

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With the recent spate of attacks on climate science and evolution it should not be a surprise that traditional defined benefit pensions in the public sector are now also under attack. There are powerful political actors in this country who are anxious to build a bridge back to the 19th century; taki...

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The Social Security lockbox is a fiction, writes Charles Krauthammer: "f these trust fund bonds represent anything real, why is it that in calculating national indebtedness they are not even included? We measure national solvency by debt/GDP ratio. As calculated by everyone from the OMB to the CIA, ...

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Instinct often causes people to make financial decisions emotionally—not logically. Understanding how human behavior affects you can help you rise above those emotions to make financial choices that make more sense for you. Avoid knee-jerk decisions Michelle Fuller, an employee benefits advisor at...

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The confrontations in Wisconsin and other states are the opening salvo of a political blame game -- who is responsible for the gigantic public pension fund deficits that threaten states' solvency and workers' retirement savings? The conservative spin machine blames public employees, claiming their g...

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We hear a lot about the struggles modern parents face in juggling work and family needs. Meeting the demands of today's 24-hour, Blackberry-fueled workplace and still finding time for your kids (let alone time for yourself) can seem next to impossible. But here's the thing that should really scare e...

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The 401(k) generation is beginning to retire, and it isn't a pretty sight. The retirement savings plans that many baby boomers thought would see them through old age are falling short in many cases. The median household headed by a person aged 60 to 62 with a 401(k) account has less than one-qua...

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We should all be inspired by the breathtaking speed that protests against repressive regimes are spreading across the Middle East. It's amazing how the power of the Internet has enabled these heroes to galvanize the public to take their countries back from the dictators. At the same time, it sadde...

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News media have been contemplating implications of the oldest Baby Boomers turning 65 this year. This is a symbolic passage but nevertheless thought worthy. Around 10,000 will reach the milestone daily for the next nineteen years. Never has the nation dealt with population aging of this magnitude. ...

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Governors and mayors facing large deficits have set their sights on a relatively new target — the soaring expense of health benefits for millions of retired state and local workers. As they contend with growing budget deficits and higher pension costs, some mayors are complaining that their ou...

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The Great Recession has taken a huge bite out of many Americans’ retirement savings. In fact, a new Harris Poll finds that 34 percent of all Americans have no retirement savings, and 27 percent have no personal savings. That’s worse than a year-and-a-half ago, when 30 percent had no retirement nest...

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What would you do if your financial planner prescribed the following advice? Save and invest diligently for 30 years, then cross your fingers and pray your investments will double over the last decade before you retire. You might as well go to Las Vegas. Yet that’s exactly what many professional...

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Retirement can seem like a long way off, especially if you're struggling to make ends meet now. However, you do need to make saving for your "golden years" a priority. At the same time, you need to be smart about how you do it. It's also important to be realistic about your retirement needs. Think a...

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Not the youngest, nor the oldest, but the people right in the middle are having a tough time dusting themselves off from the recession. Research from Mintel, a market research firm, found that many younger Baby Boomers and older Gen Xers are spending less now, plan to spend less in the future and ...

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Except for those on Social Security and Medicare, government for most middle-class Americans consists mainly of schools, police, fire protection, roads and ambulance service. It's states and localities. How are they faring in the present economy? Conventional wisdom holds that they've been crush...

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