Turning thought into action

By Ellen Rinaldi on March 18, 2010 12:11 pm

I had the chance to listen to Dan Heath recently. He’s the coauthor, with his brother Chip, of Switch, a new book about making changes. I’d read their last book, Made to Stick, and thought their conclusions were valuable, so I was looking forward to Dan’s talk.

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Rating your 401(k)

By Steve Utkus on March 15, 2010 9:03 am

401(k) accounts are typically among the largest assets held by middle- and upper-middle-income households in the United States. So naturally they draw a lot of attention—in the marketplace, in the media, and in Washington. The government, for example, is proposing new rules on reporting fees and promoting impartiality in investment advice.

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A modest proposal

By John Ameriks on March 10, 2010 11:07 am

Given all the back and forth in Washington these days, with policy meetings and dramatic proposals to revolutionize retirement, I’ve got retirement-income solutions on the brain. So here’s a modest proposal for providing “Retirement Income Security for All.”

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Is saving really saving?

By Ellen Rinaldi on March 2, 2010 9:09 am

I’ve been watching the U.S. consumer savings rate climb. It’s been heartening to witness the ascent past 5% on its way to perhaps 7%. Any way you look at it, this is a welcome—if not critical—change in our financial/economic behavior.

I started digging into how this rate is computed and asked a few of our resident economists for some explanation. As a result, I don’t feel quite as good about the savings rate as I did, but I understand the basis for it much better.

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The graying budget

By Steve Utkus on February 24, 2010 11:06 am

Several years ago at a speech in New York, I warned that “a future President Clinton or McCain would face a daunting budget challenge from population aging.” My political forecast was off, but my economic and demographic forecast is unchanged.

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