Seven Key Issues Stand Between Baby Boomers and a Comfortable Retirement Lifestyle; ''But What If I Live: The American Retirement Crisis'' Provides a Wake-Up Call for a Generation of Over-Spent and Under-Saved Americans.DENVER -- Gregory Salsbury, Ph.D., believes that the label of "crisis" is not an overstatement o·ver·state tr.v. o·ver·stat·ed, o·ver·stat·ing, o·ver·states To state in exaggerated terms. See Synonyms at exaggerate. o when discussing the seriousness of America's retirement outlook. In his new book, "But What If I Live: The American Retirement Crisis: A Retirement Guide for Baby Boomers See generation X. ," Dr. Salsbury explains that a confluence confluence /con·flu·ence/ (kon´floo-ins) 1. a running together; a meeting of streams.con´fluent 2. in embryology, the flowing of cells, a component process of gastrulation. of forces - some fiscal and some psychological - are creating a "perfect storm" resulting in seven key issues that now stand between Boomers and their retirement goals. "Retirement has undergone changes in concept, design, benefits and even availability," said Salsbury, executive vice president of Jackson National Life Jackson National Life Insurance is a U.S. life assurance company that is a subsidiary of the UK based insurer, Prudential Plc. Founded in 1961, Jackson is headquartered in Lansing, Michigan, and has over a thousand employees in the region. Distributors LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control , the distribution arm of Jackson National Life Insurance Company(R) (Jackson(SM)). "My profound worry is that the Boomers will be the first generation that will be worse off in retirement than the generation before."
Dr. Salsbury's seven key issues that Baby Boomers must address while
planning for retirement include:
1. The Aging of America - In the next 20 years, 43 million
households will move into retirement.(1) More than half of
American couples age 65 and over can expect to have at least one
spouse live until age 90 or more, which puts a significant strain
on a fixed income retirement budget.
2. Disappearing Pensions - Each year, more than 1,000 employers
voluntarily shut down their pension plans, leaving a shrinking
pool of employers paying into the federal retirement insurance
program. The percentage of workers with a pension plan who have
defined-benefit coverage has decreased from 80% in 1985 to 33% in
2003.(2)
3. Social Insecurity - The federal government currently owes Social
Security over $1.5 trillion. Without a tax increase or reduction
in benefits, Social Security will continue toward bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, more than two-thirds of retirees rely on Social
Security for 50% of their income, and 33% use it for 90% of their
income. Without Social Security, half of American retirees would
live in poverty.
4. The Tax Axe - For most American families, taxes are the single
greatest monthly expense, accounting for 30 percent of their
income. While many people think the good news about taxes is that
they will only rise for the "rich", the reality is that if a
household earned $57,343 in 2005, it would be in the top
25 percent of all tax-paying households in America.(3)
5. The Invisible Enemy - Inflation is truly the invisible enemy of
retirees' income, eating away at their purchasing power and
deteriorating the purchasing power of their assets. If people need
$50,000 a year in today's dollars, they will need $65,239 in
10 years, and $101,640 in 25 years.(4) These amounts will only
maintain their standard of living, not increase it.
6. The Healthcare Nightmare - The real "gorilla in the closet" is
healthcare, a problem with no proposed solution. The under-funding
of Medicare dwarfs that of Social Security, and the Employee
Benefits Research Institute estimates that even with Medicare, the
average American may need almost $300,000 in inflation-adjusted
dollars to pay healthcare insurance premiums and out-of-pocket
healthcare costs in retirement.(5)
7. Red, White & Broke - Americans aren't saving for retirement. In
2004, America's savings rate hit its lowest point since the Great
Depression(6) and personal bankruptcies hit an all-time high.(6)
In spite of these trends, the spending continues.
"It's harder to get ahead and stay ahead today," continued Salsbury. "It costs more money and more sweat equity Sweat Equity The equity that is created in a company or some other asset as a direct result of hard work by the owner(s). Notes: For example, rebuilding the engine on your 1968 Mustang to increase its value. . Every Boomer needs to anticipate and address the seven key issues standing between them and the retirement they envision, and it's my hope that 'But What If I Live' will give them a good game plan." "But What If I Live" is now available through The National Underwriter Company, a unit of Highline Media LLC, one of the leading publishers of financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. products and information. Readers interested in purchasing a copy of "But What If I Live" can visit www.ButWhatIfILive.com. "We are proud to partner with Dr. Salsbury and Jackson to bring this very important and often-overlooked information to those who need it most: financial service professionals and consumers," said Deborah Miner, JD, CLU (language) CLU - (CLUster) An object-oriented programming language developed at MIT by Liskov et al in 1974-1975. CLU is an object-oriented language of the Pascal family designed to support data abstraction, similar to Alphard. , ChFC, editorial director of Tax and Financial Planning Financial planning Evaluating the investing and financing options available to a firm. Planning includes attempting to make optimal decisions, projecting the consequences of these decisions for the firm in the form of a financial plan, and then comparing future performance against at the National Underwriter Company. "As a publisher, we value this new partnership, as it creates the ability to share information about the retirement crisis to a wide audience." All of Dr. Salsbury's proceeds from the sale of "But What If I Live" will be donated to Junior Achievement through the Jackson National Community Fund. Reporters and segment producers interested in speaking with Dr. Salsbury on the American Retirement Crisis can contact Andrew Silver Andrew George Silver (born 13 January 1967 in London, England) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider who represented England at test level. His father is former rider and current speedway promoter Len Silver. , public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most director for Jackson, at 303-224-7542 or andrew.silver@jnli.com. About Jackson National Life Insurance Company With more than $70 billion in assets (GAAP GAAP See: Generally Accepted Accounting Principles GAAP See generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). )(8), Jackson National Life Insurance Company(R) (Jackson) is an industry leader in the areas of variable, fixed and fixed index annuities. The company also sells life insurance and institutional products. Jackson markets its products in 49 states and the District of Columbia District of Columbia, federal district (2000 pop. 572,059, a 5.7% decrease in population since the 1990 census), 69 sq mi (179 sq km), on the east bank of the Potomac River, coextensive with the city of Washington, D.C. (the capital of the United States). through independent and regional broker-dealers, financial institutions and independent insurance agents. Jackson's subsidiary, Jackson National Life Insurance Company of New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of (R), similarly markets products in the state of New York. Through its affiliates and subsidiaries, Jackson also provides asset management and retail brokerage services. For more information, visit www.jnl.com. About the National Underwriter Company NUCO NUCO National Underwriter Company (Erlanger, Kentucky publisher) NUCO NATO Uniform Code for Operations , formed in 1897, is the leading publishing and information services See Information Systems. business for the insurance industry. Headquarters are in Erlanger, Kentucky Erlanger is a city in Kenton County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 16,676 at the 2000 census. Geography Erlanger is located at (39.013511, -84.594042)GR1. , a suburb of Cincinnati, and principal editorial and advertising sales offices are in Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Geography Hoboken is located at 40°44'41" North, 74°1'59" West (40.744851, -74.032941).GR1 . NUCO's Insurance Magazine Division publishes two weekly newsmagazines for the property/casualty and life/health insurance sectors carrying the National Underwriter brand. The company also publishes Claims, a monthly magazine for claims executives; Tech Decisions, for IT insurance professionals; Advising Boomers, for financial advisors to the baby boom generation; and two regional titles, Florida Underwriter and Insurance Advocate (NY metro market). In live events, NUCO sponsors the Annual Claims Exposition, and the Life Insurance Sales Mastery Forum. NUCO's Professional Publishing Division issues its Fire, Casualty and Surety bulletins, reporting on the latest developments in insurance policy application and legal interpretation; and the TaxFacts annuals, summarizing how the tax code affects insurance and investment decisions, among some 160 titles in all. For more information about NUCO, visit www.nuco.com. About Highline Media LLC Highline Media LLC is a publishing company focusing on information for the financial, insurance and real estate sector headed by Andrew L. Goodenough, its President and Chief Executive Officer. The company's first acquisition was the National Underwriter Company in October 2003, and its second was the insurance and banking data assets from Thomson, formerly marketed under the Sheshunoff and Thomson Financial Thomson Financial A major provider of information, analytical tools, and consulting services to the financial community. The firm, a division of Thomson Corporation, is best known to investors for its First Call segment, which publishes consensus earnings Insurance Solutions brand names. Highline intends to acquire and launch publishing assets in the financial services, insurance and real estate fields. For more information, visit www.highlinemedia.com.
1. Greg Crawford and Vineeta Anand, "The Looming Retirement
Disaster," Pensions & Investments, April 18, 2005
2. Crawford and Anand, op. cit.
3. Tax Foundation, 2005
4. Ibbotson Yearbook, Ibbotson & Associates, 2004
5. "Savings Needed to Fund Health Insurance and Health Care Expenses
in Retirement." Paul Fronstin, EBRI Issue Brief #295, 7/06
6. "Gold: There's No Free Lunch." John Ing, March 30, 2006
7. "Personal Bankruptcies Soar to All-Time High." CNN Money.com,
March 24, 2006
8. As of 6/30/06 Jackson had $70.7 billion in total GAAP assets
and $63.1 billion in GAAP policy liabilities set aside to pay
primarily future policyowner benefits.
The following cautionary statement is included to make applicable and take advantage of the safe harbor Safe Harbor 1. A legal provision to reduce or eliminate liability as long as good faith is demonstrated. 2. A form of shark repellent implemented by a target company acquiring a business that is so poorly regulated that the target itself is less attractive. provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and of 1995 for any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, the Company. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements which are other than statements of historical facts. However, as with any projection or forecast, forward-looking statements are inherently susceptible to a number of risks and uncertainties and actual results and events could differ materially from those currently being anticipated as reflected in such forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that management's expectations, beliefs or projections will result or be achieved or accomplished. |
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