This WSU Newsline Podcast is available at http://www.wichita.edu/newslinepodcast. See the transcript below.

You're listening to the podcast edition of the Wichita State University audio newsline. Learn more about WSU — the home of Thinkers, Doers, Movers and Shockers — on the Web at wichita.edu.

Rick LeCompte

The 77 million Americans in the baby boom generation face an economic storm: The Wall Street meltdown trampled retirement nest eggs and many are struggling to get back into the work force. Rick LeCompte, a personal finance expert at Wichita State University, says the economy certainly has changed the thinking of many boomers.
 

LeCompte: "There was a fear in the 1990s that due to the stock market gains, we'd be set up with a mass level of early retirements by baby boomers. Now we're looking at baby boomers actually working past, actually having later retirements maybe than their parents."

The recession will end, the economy will recover and the aftershocks will subside. But it may take longer to repair some long-held assumptions about investing and retirement planning.

While the economic crisis has forced baby boomers to rethink retirement, there may be a positive result. The financial crisis has forced them to look ahead. And, as LeCompte notes, many boomers will live longer and be healthier than their parents' generation.

LeCompte: "The big issue in retirement planning is longevity risk. Longevity risk is a situation where a person outlives their retirement savings. The longer our life expectancies are, the more likely that is to happen, so that requires individuals to probably save more and plan for a longer life."

LeCompte explains some options for the baby boom generation.

LeCompte: "Options available to hedge your retirement risk would be a person could save more, which would require you to spend less. Some people might take on second jobs. Others may choose to invest in less risky portfolios to make sure that the money they have is there when they get to retirement age."

LeCompte says those younger than 60 probably can afford to take some financial risks to get a potentially higher return on investments.

LeCompte: "For individuals under 60, it may not be the best time for them to move all their money out of more risky investments, because they're going to need some return, but they need to consider their portfolio choices and what they invest in. You may want to move to a less risky portfolio, but you still have to have some risk in order to get the return you need to finance your retirement."

So, what have we learned from the economic meltdown and its impact on retirement planning? LeCompte explains.

LeCompte: "The lesson from the meltdown in markets over the last year and a half should be that anybody getting close to retirement doesn't want to have 100 percent of their investment in common stock or equities, because by the time they retire, if they retired at that point of time in March of 2009, they would be having 50 percent less than they had planned to retire on."

If a national survey is any indication, baby boomers are making some changes in their retirement planning. One in four affluent 60-year-olds are changing their retirement plans and 40 percent are downsizing their lifestyles, according to a national survey from Bell Investment Advisors conducted in 2008.

Those who will be hurt the most are those who are not saving for retirement. According to the third Real Life Retirement Survey by Charles Schwab:

1. Almost 40 percent of Americans are not saving for retirement at all.
2. Despite market losses, 60 percent of the Americans who are saving have not altered their thinking about at what age they will retire.
3. Survey respondents have, on average, saved less than 20 percent of what they acknowledge they will need in retirement.

The lack of preparedness is not limited to young people, as those age 55-63 have on average just a quarter of what they acknowledge is needed for retirement.

The Schwab survey concludes that Americans need a reality check on what they can actually accomplish in terms of when they can afford to retire, and as to the level of comfort and security that will exist. Greater savings are needed to avoid what will otherwise be inevitable results.

Thanks for listening. Until next time, this is Joe Kleinsasser for Wichita State University.