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

If someone tells you your kid’s teacher would be better off with a 401(k) than a pension, don’t believe it | Los Angeles Times

Teachers across the country are facing aggressive political attacks on their pensions. Most classrooms in California are occupied by long-term teachers who count on traditional pensions as their main source of financial security retirement. And California is fairly typical in terms of average teacher experience. Research shows that by the time most active teachers leave service – in their early 50s or later – they will be far better off with their pensions than they would have been with a 401(k).

You’re more likely to retire wealthy if you do this one thing | Time-Money

Wouldn’t it be great if there was one simple thing you could do to help you better prepare for retirement and make you feel more confident about your prospects for financial security at the same time? Well, there is: Put your retirement plan in writing.

Social Security faring no better in 2017 | PlanSponsor

Social Security funds are projected to become depleted by 2034, the same projection as last year, according to an announcement from the Social Security Board of Trustees. The combined asset reserves of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance Trust Funds are projected to have 77 percent of benefits payable at that time. The Disability Industry Trust Fund is projected to become depleted in 2028, extended by five years from last year’s estimate of 2023, with 93 percent of benefits payable.

The U.S. is losing ground when it comes to retirement security | CNBC

Among the leading nations for retirement security, the United States didn’t even crack the top 15, according to the 2017 Global Retirement Index by Natixis Global Asset Management. Europe continued to dominate the top spots.

3 things I should have said about retirement planning | The New York Times

Looking back on a career giving advice about saving for retirement, more empathy and more real-world perspective could go a long way. The advice itself – to start young, save aggressively and diversify – might not change, except for one thing: no matter how much money you think you are going to need, save another 15 percent, just in case.

Mid-sized employer meets big 401(k) goal | Squared Away Blog

Peggy Zembower, the human resources director at an auto dealership, was dismayed when she saw that long-time employees had never increased their retirement saving above the measly 1 percent of pay they’d started at. So she implemented recommendations like automatic enrollment in the plan and auto-escalation of the amount saved over time. Her work has paid off and Thomas Automotive, a mid-sized company with 280 full- and part-time workers, has increased participation in its 401(k) retirement savings plan from 53 percent to 87 percent of employees.