New Tax Rules Seek to Help Employers Provide Retirement Plans with Lifetime Income Options

"Although not all of the provisions have been finalized, employers may wish to begin exploring potential plan design changes, as well as examining the administrative, economic, and fiduciary implications of offering lifetime income distribution options, to accommodate the trend toward providing these options in defined contribution plans."

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Making Your Finances "Picture Perfect"

While most people find the notion of creating a budget about as appealing as yard work, like mowing the lawn and weeding the garden, most would agree that the work is well worth the effort once they've achieved picture-perfect surroundings.

Two financial "snapshots" you can take at any time to help view your financial landscape are a balance sheet (or net worth statement) and a cash flow statement. Along with demonstrating where you are today, these tools can also help provide a foundation for important financial comparisons in the future. Although there are software programs available to help with budgeting, it can be easy and helpful to create your own worksheets on paper.

Assessing Your Net Worth

To create a balance sheet, simply draw a line down the center of a blank piece of paper. Label one column "Assets" and the other column "Liabilities." Assets are everything you own, and liabilities are everything you owe.

You can add structure by grouping your assets into three categories: 1) cash or cash equivalents—checking and savings accounts, money market funds, and certificates of deposit (CDs); 2) investments—stocks, bonds, mutual fund accounts, and retirement accounts; and 3) personal property—your house, home furnishings, autos, boats, and other personal items.

Liabilities can be labeled as follows: 1) short-term—auto loans, most personal loans, and credit card debt; or 2) long-term—home mortgages, some home equity loans, and some educational loans.

Enter all of the relevant numbers and add up the two columns. We'll examine the outcome later.

How Fluid Is Your Cash Flow?

Next, create a cash flow statement. Draw a line down the center of a blank sheet of paper, and label one column "Cash Inflow" and the other "Cash Outflow." On the inflow side of the ledger, list monthly or yearly income from all sources, such as wages, self-employment, rental properties, and investment income (interest and dividends).

On the outflow side, list all monthly or yearly expenditures, separating fixed expenses (mortgage payments, other periodic loan payments, and insurance premiums) and variable or discretionary expenses (utilities, food, clothing, entertainment, vacations, hobbies, and personal care). You may choose to put taxes (Federal, state, FICA) in a separate category. Again, fill in the relevant numbers and total the columns.

The Results

If your balance sheet shows your assets exceeding your liabilities, you have a positive net worth, especially if your cash flow statement shows more inflow than outflow. This picture shows that you are solvent and spending within your means. The degree of your financial health depends on the amount of your surplus.

Your financial picture may look somewhat different if your balance sheet shows your liabilities exceeding your assets and/or your cash flow statement shows more outflow than inflow. This indicates that you are spending beyond your means. It may be time to assess areas in which you can decrease your liabilities.

Each year, strive to increase your net worth and keep your expenditures under control. If your financial picture is a little out of focus, taking action now to sharpen the view may help you create a more promising snapshot in the future.

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Living to 100 Symposium Addresses New Challenges Faced by an Aging Workforce

SCHAUMBURG, Ill., Jan. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- With increased life expectancy and rising healthcare costs, individuals are faced with growing challenges in maintaining their quality of health and lifestyle in living to older ages. As a result, employers and governments are faced with new opportunities and challenges as they respond to an aging population. Those were the central topics of discussion among nearly 200 actuaries, demographers, gerontologists, biologists and researchers from across the globe who participated in the 2008 Living to 100 Symposium in Orlando.

Sponsored by the Society of Actuaries (SOA), the Living to 100 Symposium highlighted why people are living longer, what type of challenges they are facing and what this means for employers. The leading issues of the conference included understanding the aging process and the resulting consequences to life spans, longevity risk, retirement, healthcare and social and financial systems. The conference balanced discussions on the biology and science of aging, healthcare and quality of life issues, life insurance, use of annuities in managing retirement risks and statistics related to mortality trends and the aging population. A key value of the symposium series is that it brings together actuaries and longevity experts to share information and differing perspectives to advance the state of aging research and to refine estimates and projections of the mortality and future number of individuals at high ages.

Steven G. Vernon, FSA, EA, MAAA, producer of The Quest: For Long Life, Health and Prosperity, and president of Rest-of-Life Communications, noted, "There is a 'Catch-22' for individuals as they need to manage their resources for the rest of their lives, yet they don't know how long to expect to live. This is further compounded by the number of individuals taking a lump sum, but not planning accordingly to make it last through their entire retirement."

This is an area where employers can play an important role, Paganelli said. "Employers can take the lead by acting as intermediaries in helping aging employees remain in the workplace to reduce the risk of outliving their assets, which in turn would help strengthen the overall marketplace."

About Living to 100

Living to 100 is an international triennial symposium on high-age mortality and related issues supported by more than 50 sponsoring and participating organizations. Actuaries, demographers, gerontologists, biologists and researchers from around the world attended the event to discuss the implications of living to older ages. The symposium compared experiences across countries from India to the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico and the United States since all of these countries are experiencing profound changes.

About Actuaries

Actuaries bring a complex future into focus by applying unique insight to risk and opportunity. Known for their comprehensive approach, actuaries enable smarter, more confident decisions.

About the Society of Actuaries

The SOA is an educational, research and professional organization dedicated to serving the public and its 19,000 members. The SOA's vision is for actuaries to be recognized as the leading professionals in the modeling and management of financial risk and contingent events. The SOA's mission is to advance actuarial knowledge and to enhance the ability of actuaries to provide expert advice and relevant solutions for financial, business and societal problems involving uncertain future events. To learn more, visit http://www.soa.org.

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