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

Rep. Kevin Brady: It’s Time to Fix the WEP | Teach the VoteIn a recent editorial, U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady wrote about the inherent unfairness of the Windfall Elimination Provision or “WEP.” “It’s unfair to public servants in Texas and across the nation, including places like California, Massachusetts and Ohio,” Brady said. “I’ve been working to repeal and replace the WEP for a decade. This is something we must do for our teachers, firefighters, police, and other public servants. You probably know the history: When Social Security was created in 1935, state and local governments were excluded from participating due to Constitutional concerns. Later, the law changed to allow state and local governments to offer Social Security to their employees. I think we can all agree that our teachers, police, and firefighters deserve better,” Brady added.

Legislation to combat elder financial abuse advances in Senate |InvestmentNewsLegislation that would give financial advisers civil liability protection when reporting suspected financial abuse of seniors advanced in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. The Senior Safe Act was approved by the Senate Banking Committee as part of a larger bill that would reform regulation of credit unions, community banks, and small regional banks. The Senate action follows approval of a companion elder-abuse bill by the House Financial Services Committee in October.

What’s the largest Social Security retirement check someone can get? |The Washington PostLooking at your Social Security statement regularly should be a key part of your retirement planning. This means not just waiting until a few years before you retire to check what’s on your benefit. Retirement planning should begin the day you start working full-time. Knowing how much you can expect from Social Security (assuming there aren’t major changes by the time you do retire) should be part of determining how much you need to save and invest for retirement.

Retirees found some expenses in retirement higher than expected |PLANSPONSOR
In a survey of Baby Boomers, Capital Group found that, among those who are retired, 60 percent say that life post-employment is better than they had anticipated. Thirty percent say it meets their expectations, and 10 percent say it is worse than they expected, with many in this group blaming finances or health. Others point to lifestyle issues, such as boredom, loneliness, or the fact they miss work. However, despite many saying retirement is surprisingly better, Boomers face a myriad of costs that are surprisingly higher, starting with those for health care; 43 percent of Boomers say health care costs are higher than anticipated. Other unexpectedly high expenses are: travel (40 percent), taxes (34 percent), food (25 percent) and utilities (23 percent). By comparison, only 11 percent of retired Boomers say they spend more than they had hoped to to support dependents, a mere 9 percent say credit card debt is a problem, and only 9 percent say housing costs exceed those anticipated.

Supporting adult children could cost you $227K in retirement |ForbesIf you’re not careful, lending your adult children a financial hand can have significant consequences later on. It could cost you as much as a quarter of a million dollars out of your retirement nest egg, new research has found. Some 80 percent of parents of children 18 and older are covering, or have covered, at least a portion of their adult child’s expenses, according to a recent survey from NerdWallet. That includes helping pay for groceries (56 percent), health insurance (40 percent), rent or housing (21 percent), cell phone bills (39 percent) and car insurance (34 percent). However, if parents took the money they were spending on their children and put it toward retirement, they’d have about $227,000 more to tide them over, the report says.

How digital tools and behavioral economics will save retirement | Harvard Business Review
In Shlomo Benartzi’s work as a behavioral economist, he’s thought a lot about how nudges can drive lasting behavior change. In the domain of retirement savings, he and Nobel laureate Richard Thaler devised a program called Save More Tomorrow back in the mid-1990s that used nudges to help people make better decisions about their long-term financial future. That program invites employees to gradually increase their savings rate over time, and it has been a success: according to Mr. Benartzi’s latest estimates, it has boosted the savings rates of as many as 15 million Americans. Read more about Behavioral Economics in this week’s PERA on the Issues article, “Nobel Prize puts spotlight on behavioral economics, retirement plan policy.”