August 6, 2012
Source Article: http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/america-retirement-system-failing-us-economist-153445894.html
More validation today for our messages of the past decade to a growing problem. It's nice to see other people starting to finally get it.
The article highlights the problem Compass Investors has been trying to alert people to for the past decade. As you know we call it the "Retirement Income Security Crisis".
Employers were given cart blanche 30 years ago to "punt" their responsibilities to provide retirement income for their workforce back to their plan participants through the implementation of the defined contribution program. However, it's like being given a car without the keys or without driver's-Ed!! It's a great idea and concept but people are ill-equipped to use it.
The Defined Contribution plan, or the "do-it-yourself pension plan" as the author calls it (I love that term) forgot that most people without investment experience and, even potentially more disastrous, those people who think they have investment "experience," would be unable to get the same results (as poor as they may be) as professional investors and money managers.
But that's only half the problem. As you know even those "professionals" have been unable to fill the gap left between what a TDF (the investment vehicle of choice) will produce and what will be needed to obtain Retirement Income Security.
Compass Investors has been saying for 10 years that people should save not the 8-10 times their final salary before they retire that the "professionals" have advised, but rather they should save at least 20 times in order to have Retirement Income Security. Well this author agrees to the number (I wonder if she took a look at our web site?!) and it's about time people are stepping up to these realities.
Furthermore, we've stressed that to have Retirement Income Security you need to divorce yourself from dependence on government programs (Social Security, Medicare) that are not under your control and potentially insolvent. If they survive until you need them, great! No one will ever complain about having too much money!! But why risk it when the retirement plan, properly and actively managed, CAN by itself provide most Americans with Retirement Income Security regardless of any government entitlement programs.
The article, as well as all others, stop short of providing any answers to these burning issues. But the good news, is Adaptive Asset Allocation™ is a solution to closing the Investment Return Gap which will lead to many more people finding Retirement Income Security in their lifetime.
This article joins the growing list of external supporting references posted on the Compass Institute web site where the "Retirement Income Security Crisis" and Adaptive Asset Allocation™ stories have been told going back a decade now.
To learn more about our Adaptive Asset Allocation
solution, HORIZON™ please visit us on the web at
www.compassinvestors.com.