Target-date funds led to 75% decrease in ‘extreme’ equity allocations: Vanguard | Yahoo! Finance

Staying the course is a powerful concept in investing. But when the market is as choppy as we saw last year, staying the course is often easier said than done. According to a recent report from Vanguard, one group of people stands out for their ability to do….well, nothing. Just about everyone (96%) with a target-date fund in a retirement account at Vanguard didn’t make a trade in those accounts last year. Target-date funds let individuals invest in a single fund that is optimized for a specific date, like retirement. These funds contain an array of asset classes (stocks, bonds, etc.) that automatically decrease risk as the investor nears that date. (PERAPlus investors have access to target-date funds, too).

Here’s Why People Don’t Save Enough | Squared Away

The majority of older American workers and retirees say they wished they had saved more for retirement. A recent study asks an important follow-up question: “what happened?” Was it procrastination? Lack of access to retirement savings accounts? Economic hardships? Older Americans said that, in hindsight, unemployment and underemployment were the biggest barriers that stood between them and saving more.

Financial Decision Making Worsens With Age. Here’s How to Help Your Future Self. | Barron’s

“Think about your future self.” This is common advice handed out to people who are employed and saving for retirement (or not). This kind of thought experiment involving future you continues to be useful even after you retire. Thinking about yourself as an 85-year-old retiree when you’re a new retiree in your 60s can make a huge difference later. This article walks through some examples of why this is a helpful way to plan, and what to do to get started.

2021 Update: Public Plan Funding Improves as Workforce Declines | Center for Retirement Research

Across the country, public pensions saw investments rebound from a brutal spring to finish strong. However, negative employment trends tempered some of the benefits of a good investment year.  

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News You Should Know is a digest of news from publications around the nation about finance, investing, and retirement.