Here Are The Two Key Reasons America Has Improved Its Retirement Score

Credit increased savings is something that doesn’t get talked about enough for American investors who want to be better prepared financially for retirement.

In fact, according to Fidelity Investments’ latest biennial Retirement Savings Assessment, the typical American household is on track to have 83 percent of the income they’ll need over the course of their expected retirement years – with about half in even better shape than that. To put this into perspective, fifteen years ago, when the assessment was first conducted, the projected figure was a bleaker 62 percent.

“It’s a testament to the hard work many families have made in taking control of their finances,” says Melissa Ridolfi, vice president of retirement and college leadership at Fidelity.

The study is based on a comprehensive national survey of 3,234 people identified as saving for retirement, age 25 to 74 in households earning at least $20,000 annually, and looked at assets such as retirement accounts, home equity, inheritances, and current or expected pensions and Social Security benefits. The one disheartening finding: Twenty-eight percent of respondents might just as well be walking around with bright red warning signs if they don’t take significant steps to make up their current shortfall.

Fidelity actually used color-coded indicators to give a fuller picture of households’ ability to cover their estimated expenses in a down market during those later years:

• Dark Green (“On Target”). Thirty-seven percent were on track to handle more than 95 percent of their expected expenses (up 5 percentage points from 2018).

• Green (“Good”). Seventeen percent were on track for 81 to 95 percent – the essentials, but not discretionary items such as travel and entertainment (down 1 percentage point from 2018).

• Yellow (“Fair”). Eighteen percent came in at 65 to 80 percent, hence face “modest adjustments” to their lifestyles (down 3 percentage points from 2018).

• Red (“Needs Attention”). Twenty-eight percent were completely off-track at less than 65 percent of expenses (down 1 percentage point from 2018).

The two factors driving the shift into the green?

First, the median savings rate has steadily increased over the years – it’s now at 10 percent, as opposed to 8.8 percent two years ago – with Baby Boomers socking away the most (11.7 percent of their salaries). Even Millennials, a generation noted for its crushing student loan debt, managed a rate of 9.7 percent.

And second – and here’s what’s often overlooked – improved asset allocation.

“Sixty percent of respondents are allocating their assets in a manner Fidelity considers age-appropriate,” Ridolfi says, “compared to 48 percent in 2006.”

One reason is that many workplace retirement plans began defaulting employees into target date funds and managed accounts over the past decade.

For those curious about their own retirement readiness, Fidelity’s free Retirement Score tool allows anyone to get their score and shows the percentage they’re anticipated to have saved versus their projected needed income. Better yet, you can also test out potential tweaks that would allow for a cushier retirement lifestyle.

And if cushy is what you crave, never forget three of the greatest “accelerants” for improving your preparedness. Specifically, by upping your savings rate to the recommended minimum 15 percent (including any employer 401(k) contributions), ensuring an age-appropriate asset mix, and deferring Social Security benefits until at least age 66 or 67, you could dramatically boost your total score to more than 100.

“Any one accelerator is clearly helpful,” says Ridolfi, “but all three combined could help bring you from a ‘good’ to a ‘great.’”

An At-Home Study on Heart Health And AFib Detection

 

While the world is slowly opening back up after being shut down for months, if you or someone you love is 65 and older, home is where you are still likely spending most your time.

And while at home, you can consider participating in the Heartline Study sponsored by the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson in collaboration with Apple. Since the study is completely virtual, there’s no travel necessary to doctors’ offices or anywhere else.

“People can participate from the safety of their home,” says Paul Burton, M.D, Chief Global Medical Affairs Officer at Janssen Scientific Affairs. “They’ll be able to participate in a heart health engagement program with activities that may help improve sleep, fitness and wellness, while contributing to innovative heart health research.”

The study seeks to find whether the Heartline Study app, and heart health features on the Apple Watch, can improve clinical outcomes, including reducing the risk of stroke from earlier detection of atrial fibrillation (AFib). The Heartline Study also has articles and facts to keep you engaged in your heart health.

AFib is a common form of irregular heart rhythm that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates is responsible for 158,000 deaths and 454,000 hospitalizations annually in the U.S. It also accounts for more than one-third of all strokes. However, as Dr. Burton notes, “it can be difficult to diagnose since people often do not experience symptoms.”

Here are some tips that can help you take control of your heart health even while adhering to the stay-at-home order:

• Engage in short bouts of physical activity. AFib incidence increases with age – about 70 percent of AFib patients are between 68 and 85 – and even the slightest activity can improve everything from energy to focus to overall health. One starting point: pacing while doing those virtual chats.

• Eat heart-healthy food. “Fruits, vegetables, and fish or chicken are obvious places to begin,” Johns Hopkins Medicine advises.

• Manage high blood pressure. It’s one of the top risk factors for AFib. Readings above 140 for systolic pressure or above 90 for diastolic pressure are considered high.

Who is eligible for the Heartline study? Those who are 65 or older, have Original (Traditional) Medicare and own an iPhone 6s or later model. Individuals with or without a diagnosis of AFib may qualify. Other eligibility criteria apply.

There are a variety of ways to participate in the Heartline Study. You will need to have an iPhone 6s or newer. Some participants will take part using only their iPhone. Some participants will also be asked to wear an Apple Watch. Those asked to wear a watch will be offered two options: purchase one, or get one on loan for the duration of the study and return it when your participation in the study ends. Johnson & Johnson and Apple are committed to ensuring that participation in the study is not limited based on financial need.

To learn more, and to download the Heartline Study app, visit Heartline.com.

Mental Health of Students Must Figure in Restarting Classes

 

By Amy Braun
For NewsUSA

(NU) – As officials across the nation decide how best to open schools, one aspect too often overlooked is students’ mental health. Awareness of the pressures on our children is the first step towards helping them heal and preparing them to learn.

COVID-19 has left many kids feeling lonely and isolated. Research on the effect of the lockdowns published in the June issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry concludes that young people experiencing loneliness may be as much as three times more likely to sink into depression in the future, but additionally that their mental health could be impacted for at least nine years because of it.

One answer? Since 2003, HealthCorps has worked in high-need schools, supplementing existing health and wellness programs emphasizing physical activity, nutrition, mental resilience and civic engagement. These are teenagers who, even in normal circumstances, experience disparities in access to health services based on their socioeconomic status, geographic region, race or ethnicity – with perhaps predictable results. Specifically, higher rates of chronic disease (including stress) and lower measures of both quality of life and life expectancy.

And yet, through our unique curriculum – created by top heathcare professionals and constantly updated to match students’ needs – the students we work with have flourished. They exercise more, eat better, and practice positive thought. And, yes, they engage with their communities.

Since stress has always been an issue for many of these teens, one of the most requested lessons we were asked to bring to classrooms even before the pandemic hit was  “Bust My Stress.”  And now? Add the coronavirus-induced feelings of isolation to that equation, and you begin to see how fragile our nation’s teens may be.

As one of our Florida students so heartbreakingly told us amid the lockdowns: “I still keep it in, but I still think negative like every night. I cry it out so I won’t have to feel that way again in the morning.”

Building mental resilience has become an increased focus of our work.

Of course, parents have their own role to play in their teenagers’ healing process.

“They can help by reassuring teens that, just because they’re nervous or scared, doesn’t mean they’re really in any danger,” says Mark Goulston, M.D., a HealthCorps advisory board member and widely quoted expert on building a positive culture. “By reminding them that their bodies don’t really understand the fear, and by talking it out and discussing the fear, both the parent and child will feel better and closer.”

The HealthCorps program is delivered by highly trained recent college graduates who are future medical and health policy professionals. They interact with teens on a daily basis – though, these days, virtually – and have developed some simple steps that can help youths through these trying times. Among them:

• Meditate or try deep-breathing methods, which increase your body’s natural ability to relax during high-stress moments.

• Get moving.

• Prioritize sleep.

• Talk things out with someone you trust.

• Do or watch something that makes you laugh.

• Keep a non-judgmental journal to help process thoughts.

• Practice gratitude and positive self-talk.

One last thing. These tips and others, available on our new @teenhealthvibe Instagram channel can also apply to adults.

Amy Braun is the CEO of HealthCorps, a national not for profit providing health and wellness resources to teens, parents and faculty at high-need schools.

Study Shows Older Americans Are Coping Best During the Pandemic

Study Shows Older Americans Are Coping Best During the Pandemic. 

If you think older Americans have struggled to cope through the pandemic, think again. According to new research by financial services firm Edward Jones, they have actually been faring far better than their younger counterparts.

The Edward Jones and Age Wave Study focused exclusively on how different generations have held up emotionally and financially in the months since the lockdowns began, and some of its findings are at least as startling as how quickly even 70-year-olds came to love Zoom.

“COVID-19’s impact forever changed the reality of many Americans, yet we’ve observed a resilience among U.S. retirees in contrast to younger generations,” says Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D., the founder and CEO of Age Wave, a leading research think tank on aging, retirement and longevity issues.

While acknowledging upfront that the virus itself disproportionately struck aging adults, the five-generational sampling of 9,000 people, age 18 and over, reveals more than a few surprises. Among them:

• While 37 percent of Gen Zers, 27 percent of Millennials, and 25 percent of Gen Xers say they’d suffered “mental health declines” since the virus hit, only 15 percent of Baby Boomers responded likewise.

• Faring the best were those 75 and over – the Silent Generation that followed the so-called “Greatest Generation” – with a mere 8 percent of those respondents reporting any mental health deterioration. That would seem to run counter, as does the results for Boomers (age 56 to 74), to early warnings that prolonged social isolation made older adults especially vulnerable to depression, anxiety and cognitive decline.

• Nearly 68 million Americans have altered the timing of their retirement due to the pandemic, and 20 million have stopped making regular retirement savings contributions.

Dychtwald attributes the two older generations’ resilience to having “a greater perspective on life.”

“They’ve seen wars and other major disruptions before,” he says, “and they know that this, too, will pass. Younger generations feel like, ‘What happened to my life? I mean, I was supposed to go to college or I was starting a new job, and now everything has changed.’”

Most retired Boomers and Silent Gens also had monthly Social Security checks to fall back on. Which explains why – though the pandemic has significantly reduced the financial security of a quarter of Americans – younger generations were slammed the hardest: Nearly one-third of Millennial and Gen Z respondents characterize the impact as “very or extremely negative,” compared to 16 percent of Boomers and 6 percent of Silent Gens who admitted to similar hardship.

Looking for any silver lining that’s come out of the COVID-19 crisis?

Well, 67 percent of respondents did say it’s brought their families closer together.

“The pandemic has certainly thrown into sharp relief what matters most in our lives,” says Ken Cella, Edward Jones’s client services group principal. “And important discussions have taken place about planning earlier for retirement, saving more for emergencies, and even talking through end-of-life plans and long-term care costs.”

And with the study also showing that an overwhelming percentage of retirees yearn for more ways to use their talents to benefit society, financial services firm Edward Jones believes it’s time to redefine retirement more “holistically” to encompass what it calls “the four pillars” of health, family, purpose and finance.

Successfully addressing most of those pillars admittedly takes more financial savvy than many of us have, though, especially given ever-rising costs. But a financial advisor, such as a local one at Edward Jones, has the perspective, experience and empathy to help.