A digest of timely information and insight about finance, investing, and retirement.

6 tips for a terrific retirement | Forbes
The transition from work to retirement can be a challenge. As much as we complain about work, a full-time job provides us with a routine, a community and a sense of purpose. If you want to enjoy a fulfilling retirement, you need to find a way to replace those benefits. But what’s the best way to do that? How do you decide where to devote your time and energy? A small group of retired United Way executives attending the annual United Way Retirees Association gathering in Connecticut recently offered some great advice about retirement, transitions and lessons learned from their experience.

Are we on the verge of the next big pension bill? | Bloomberg
While the eyes of the nation were focused on the Senate confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh, the House of Representatives quietly passed the Family Savings Act of 2018 on September 27. The act, which is one of three tax bills clearing the House as part of the Republicans’ push for “Tax Reform 2.0,” contains a series of proposals designed to enhance Americans’ retirement security and increase other savings. Some of the proposals contained in the act are new, but many have been taken from previously introduced legislation—most substantially, from the Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act.

This 105-year-old martini lover has been retired almost 40 years | Time
Patricia Lyons Harrington recalls applying for a credit card in the 1950s, when she was a single, middle-aged school teacher in Boston. The company turned her down, since gender discrimination was as common in credit transactions as in other aspects of society. More than a decade later, the tide began to turn, and the same company sent her a solicitation. “I said ‘no thank you,’” recalls Harrington, 105. Well past the century mark, Harrington retains the feisty spirit that helped her forge her own career and manage her own money at a time when most of her peers married and stayed home to raise children. Today, the former music teacher lives with her nephew and his wife in a separate apartment in their home in Essex, Mass., where former students still come to visit her.

3 reasons it’s not always a good idea to retire early—even if you can | Motley Fool
Who doesn’t dream of retiring early? Rather than working until you can’t work anymore, you can spend your days traveling the world, learning new hobbies, or simply relaxing at home. Early retirement may sound great in theory, but in practice, it may not be the best idea. For one, most people aren’t even on track to retire at a normal retirement age, let alone early. Forty-two percent of Americans have less than $10,000 saved for retirement, according to a survey of millennials, Gen Xers, and Baby Boomers from GOBankingRates, and of those people, 14 percent have nothing at all saved. That’s not great news, especially considering the average person spends nearly $46,000 per year during retirement, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Guaranteed income preferred over lump sums | PlanSponsor
What would you do? Fifty-three percent of Americans ages 50 to 79 say they would prefer guaranteed lifetime income of $660 a month over a $120,000 lump sum payment, the LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute (LIMRA SRI) learned in a survey. When asked why they would take the guaranteed income, 57 percent said they expect to live a long life and 46 percent said it was because it would give them peace of mind.

US institutional investors changing views of ESG investing | PlanSponsor
Institutional investors in the U.S. continue to view the application of environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles in investing more cautiously than other countries, but the percentage that reject ESG outright shrank dramatically year over year, from 51 percent to 34 percent, according to RBC Global Asset Management’s third annual Responsible Investing Survey. Forty-three percent of institutional investors incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into their investing, up from 22 percent in 2013, according to a report from Callan.