Markets may be on a downward slide, but it’s not enough to force baby boomers to postpone their retirement plans. January was the worst on record for U.S. stocks since 2009 and February hasn’t proved much better. And yet Bloomberg reports over 400,000 workers and their partners received their first Social Security checks last month, the highest total in three years. A single good or bad market year has no statistically significant impact on retirement rates, the publication reports. The National Bureau of Economic Research found that only significant, long-term shifts in the stock market will impact retirement timing. And even then, the effect is only on well-educated U.S. workers who may own stocks.
Where Gen X and Boomers Differ on Retirement
While both Generation X and baby boomers agree that a retirement crisis is coming, they differ significantly on how they're dealing with it, LifeHealthPro.com is reporting. According to a new report from Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, 20 percent of those in Generation X believe going into debt to pay for daily purchases "is just a fact of life," compared to one in seven baby boomers. In addition, Gen Xers carry 60 percent more mortgage debt than baby boomers and have 82 percent more non-mortgage debt (student loans and credit cards) than their older counterparts. Perhaps even scarier is this: Half of Gen Xers label their financial philosophy as “enjoy and live today” while 61 percent of baby boomers believe they should “save and plan for tomorrow.”
To mark the three-year anniversary of Charles Schwab’s ETF OneSource program for commission-free ETFs, the brokerage brought 13 providers together to launch the 2016 ETF Industry Outlook. The new microsite covers topics from smart beta and active ETFs to managing volatility and finding income, with data and outlooks from each of the participating providers. Schwab has also named Feb. 22 to 26 “ETF Week” and will host a series of half-hour media calls on ETF topics and trends.
XY Planning Surpasses 200 Advisors
The XY Planning Network, a turnkey financial planning network for fee-only financial planners who target younger clients, announced Thursday that it officially surpassed the 200 advisor mark. Launched in April 2014, the group helps advisors get their own firms off the ground by providing them with technology, compliance support and business coaching. Over the past year, the group secured new partnerships with companies like MoneyGuidePro and Advizr, launched its first conference and created a podcast to teach advisors how to serve younger clients. Co-founder Alan Moore said the growth is proof that the Gen X and millennial markets can be served profitably on a fee-only basis, while co-founder Michael Kitces said the group can serve as a model for financial advice under a fiduciary rule from the Department of Labor.