Our daily roundup of retirement news your clients may be thinking about.
More seniors are opting to rent a home than own one, with the trend expected to continue in the foreseeable future, says Rolf Pendall, director of the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center at the Urban Institute. While the increase in the population of older people means a rise in the number of senior homeowners, renters will outnumber these homeowners and this could create certain risks, Pendall says. "For a senior, having a house is much better than not having your own house ... Not having that control over your unit is an existential threat." –CNBC
Experts are calling for the creation of the Guaranteed Retirement Account to address the country's looming retirement crisis, according to TheStreet. The program would allow Americans to contribute to a GRA while working, grow up to 6% and guarantee 2%, says labor economist Teresa Ghilarducci, adding that "at the end of [their] working life, [they] will be able to withdraw it as an addition to Social Security." Some analysts, however, don't support the proposal, with one expert calling it "a bad idea" since "everybody's just so different about what they're looking for." –TheStreet
Although the federal government has created the myRA retirement program to help close the retirement coverage gap and help many Americans secure their golden years, several states are considering state-run defined contribution plans, writes Earle Allen, a partner with New York-based Cammack Retirement Group. While the Department of Labor has developed guidelines for these states to create these plans, the government should subject these state-run plans to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, Allen writes. Requiring these plans to comply with ERISA would lead to uniformity and provide workers the protections under the law. –The Hill
Clients who contribute to a 401(k) plan are advised to avoid holding too much company stock in the plan, according to GoBankingRates. They also need to avoid investments that carry very high risk and allocate some assets in high-dividend stocks to offset inflation. 401(k) participants are advised to raise their contributions to the plan and take advantage of employer match contributions, and avoid taking big withdrawals from the plan. –CBS Moneywatch
An IRA conversion refers to the investor's decision to transfer assets in a traditional IRA or similar accounts to a Roth IRA, and this move triggers a tax liability, according to The Motley Fool. Recharacterization means undoing an IRA conversion and it is allowed if clients cannot afford the tax burden created by the rollover. Clients have until Oct. 15 to recharacterize an IRA conversion and wipe out any tax burden from the rollover. –The Motley Fool
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