Debt holds many Boomers back

With the average Baby Boomer a half-million dollars short on retirement savings, the prospects for actually retiring look slim. So what do we do about it?

Baby Boomers, forget about retirement. We'll be working for the rest of our lives. OK, that may be an exaggeration, but not by much.

We have not saved enough money. And worse, many of us will still be up to our eyeballs in debt when we do retire. We're just one medical emergency away from bankruptcy.

According to Boomers and Retirement, a new survey by TD Ameritrade, the average Baby Boomer is about a half-million dollars short on retirement savings.

And 74% of Boomers in the survey say they will have to rely heavily on Social Security in retirement. (The average Social Security check, by the way, is $1,230 a month.) Read more >>

Retirement 'Perfect Storm' Coming in 2013

An estimated 7 million Americans will reach the age of 65 by the start of 2013, and many will no doubt be thinking about retiring. But even if falling off the "fiscal cliff' is avoided, some financial experts are warning anyone thinking about trading in their paycheck for a retirement fund next year.

"It's kind of a perfect storm in 2013 when you think about it," said Jason Wheeler, CEO of Pathfinder Wealth Consulting.

"With questions about taxes, spending cuts, the markets, health care-and then put those together with the number of seniors wanting to retire or will lose their jobs-the year could be a rough one when it comes to retirement," he said.

Topping Wheeler's worry list seniors are taxes. "The magnitude of what a retiree will pay on their investments could really hurt their finances," he said. "And right now we don't know what that will be." Read more >>

TSA Agent arrested for raping boy he mentored as a big brother

We've learned a Transportation Security Agent has been arrested on a warrant for the rape of a northeast Ohio boy he had been mentoring as a big brother.

The man had been a volunteer with the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Greater Cleveland.

Cleveland Sex Crimes investigators built a case against him, and he was arrested at the airport in Newark, NJ.

He had gone to work for the TSA in Germany.

We're not naming the man until he gets brought back to Cleveland and charged.

Source

Women face host of obstacles to retirement

Financial experts and studies say that the gender pay gap is not disappearing -- women continue to earn less than men and are less likely to save for retirement. In addition, the Great Recession has forced many women back into the job market at a time they thought they would be enjoying retirement.

"Many older women are frightened," says Heidi Hartmann, president of the Institute for Women's Policy Research. "They just never thought that they could be in their 50s or early 60s and not have a job. They have seen their savings, their home value and their retirement all decline because they've had to use it to live. And they don't know how to rebuild it." Read more >>

Spain braces for 3rd austerity round amid hemorrhaging tax receipts

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy may unveil a third austerity round within days as his six-month- old government tries to avoid a second bailout amid hemorrhaging tax receipts. Rajoy said on July 2 the time has come to “press the accelerator pedal” as he tries to tame bond yields. Government officials have said they are considering raising taxes on gas and products that have a reduced rate, such as food, hotels and restaurants.

Rajoy plans to announce an overhaul of public administration this week, Maria Dolores de Cospedal, his deputy in the ruling People’s Party, said today. Spain’s return to recession is undermining efforts to cut the euro area’s third-largest budget deficit as tax receipts shrivel. Ten-year bond yields climbed back above 7 percent today as European finance ministers meet to discuss the worsening debt crisis. Spain became the fourth euro-region country to seek a bailout in June to shore up banks burdened with bad loans.

“The commission will make its proposal for a new path of fiscal adjustment” for Spain at a meeting of euro-area finance ministers tonight, Economy Minister Luis de Guindos told reporters in Brussels. “We will analyze its implications and explain the measures we are taking and that we will take.” Read more >>

Global warming: 100% Exposed FRAUD!

Al Gore 100% exposed.