With the stock market down and now in bear territory, Bay Area residents are asking about their 401(k)s, so The Chronicle took those same questions to financial experts.
Helping Workers Rebuild Their Retirement Savings Post-Pandemic
Plan sponsors should stress the need to save for retirement and allay fears about market volatility, among other things.
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Art by A. Richard Allen
Many workers might have tapped into their retirement savings or cut back on or completely eliminated their contributions due to the coronavirus pandemic. And some employers might have cut back on or suspended their matches as well. Some workers might have panicked when the markets tumbled in March and even gone so far as to take their money out of the market and been too afraid to get back in, thereby losing tens of thousands of dollars of retirement savings.
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While the financial damage done by the pandemic is leading many Americans to rein in their retirement expectations or delay retirement, the number of companies cutting or suspending 401(k) matches remains below the level seen during the 2008 financial crisis, according to a pair of recent surveys.
Here is the latest
Barronâs roundup of news and research to help you make informed decisions and gauge your relative retirement readiness.
Survey: Many Workers Plan to Delay Retirement
Half of all American workers living paycheck to paycheck now expect to delay retirement because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a survey from the insurance brokerage and advisory company Willis Towers Watson.