Reeling from market losses4 of 9The decimation of retirement portfolios in the 2008 market crash is just one of many reasons to consider working longer. "Working longer has three beneficial effects," says Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College and author of "Working Longer: The Solution to the Retirement Income Challenge.""It substantially increases Social Security benefits, a really important source of retirement income because they are indexed for inflation and continue for as long as the person lives."It also allows time for 401(k) plans to recover from the recent financial collapse and in normal times simply to accumulate more assets."And it increases the ratio of working years to retirement years. Right now the numbers are 40/20. Take four off of retirement and add to work, the ratio becomes 44/16, close to three-to-one." Related Articles:Collecting Social Security5 Social Security factsBuild a secure retirementBoomer's IRA dilemmaRelated Links:Planning your lifeLeaving money to heirsTarget-date funds a trap?Take control of 401(k) advertisement
The decimation of retirement portfolios in the 2008 market crash is just one of many reasons to consider working longer. "Working longer has three beneficial effects," says Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College and author of "Working Longer: The Solution to the Retirement Income Challenge."
"It substantially increases Social Security benefits, a really important source of retirement income because they are indexed for inflation and continue for as long as the person lives.
"It also allows time for 401(k) plans to recover from the recent financial collapse and in normal times simply to accumulate more assets.
"And it increases the ratio of working years to retirement years. Right now the numbers are 40/20. Take four off of retirement and add to work, the ratio becomes 44/16, close to three-to-one."
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