Helping clients plan for retirement in their 70s: Retirement Scan

Our daily roundup of retirement news your clients may be thinking about.

How to plan for retirement in your 70s and beyond
Clients who are in their 70s and unable to finish their retirement plan are advised to continue working while they can and invest or save their Social Security benefits, according to the personal finance website Motley Fool. They also should reduce their spending as much as they can and continue being invested in stocks for greater returns. While they are required to take distributions from their retirement accounts, they can still save and invest this money outside these accounts. --Motley Fool

Retirement planning for the 'gig economy'
People who earn a living independently by offering contractual and on-call services need to prepare for retirement even if they don't get the perks as regular employees do, according to Morningstar. Those who opt to take part in the "gig economy" are advised to set up a fund for short-term financial hardship before building their nest egg. They can start saving for retirement in a traditional IRA, and then contribute to other accounts, such as Roth IRA and Solo 401(k). For self-employed clients, investing should take a less risky and conservative route compared with regular employees. --Morningstar

The centennial millennial: Retirement planning for a long life
As young investors are expected to live longer, they are advised to build up their savings enough to support them through the last days of their life, according to Forbes. To prepare for a longer retirement, millennials are advised to start saving as early as they can through employer-sponsored plans and IRAs, and put all their windfalls in these accounts. They also should pick low-cost investment options, such as index funds and exchange-traded funds, and strive to pay off their debts. --Forbes

How ignoring the stock market drop paid off for retirement investors
Retirement savers who continue contributing to their 401(k) plans and IRAs, and remain invested amid market declines are the ones who end up receiving more gains than those who sell for fear of greater losses from stumbling market prices, according to Money. Market volatility could last for a short term, so investors need to stick to their investments in a long-term basis. For instance, while the previous quarter started off with prices dwindling by as low as 10%, the stocks bounced back and the market regained stability. --Money

It's easy to get the odds your retirement will be ruined wrong
Retirement planning may be better off discarding the use of "probabilities of ruin" in determining how long a nest egg will last, according to experts. "The only way to be able to forecast these things is based on prior data or history. There simply isn’t enough history to be able to forecast these things with confidence in the context of financial markets," says an expert. Also, "[t]he models or computer algorithms being used to generate these forecasts aren’t very transparent or widely accepted…" --USA Today

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
Retirement readiness Social Security
MORE FROM FINANCIAL PLANNING