Teresa Ghilarducci

Did you know a majority of Americans have less than $30,000 in retirement savings? One third has saved nothing at all. Tens of millions of middle-class Americans turning 65 in the next decade are on track to be living in or near poverty after they quit working. My guest today refers to Baby Boomers as "When 60 is the New 17."

Welcome to a Career Strategies podcast on TotalPicture this is Peter Clayton — today we’re going to be talking about How to Retire with Enough Money: And How to Know What Enough Is. This just happens to be the title of a new book by my special guest, Teresa Ghilarducci, an expert on retirement, pensions, and personal savings. Teresa is the Bernard L. and Irene Schwartz Chair in Economic Policy Analysis at The New School for Social Research. She has a PhD in economics from the University of California, Berkeley and taught previously at the University of Notre Dame.

Talking Points: Questions Peter Clayton Asks Teresa Ghilarducci

Teresa thank you for speaking with me today. I watched a YouTube interview from the Institute of New Economic Thinking with you titled the Retirement Crisis. Perhaps you can give us a brief overview of the some of the data points you bring up in the interview and in your new book relating to the retirement crisis?

I want to read a brief passage from the introduction of How to Retire with Enough Money “…do not withdraw any funds if you lose your job, have health troubles, get divorced, buy a house, or send a son or daughter to college (or bail him or her out of jail if you don’t have an honor-student type kid.”

We all know people who’ve had their savings wiped out due to divorce, health problems, dot-com crashes, job loss, recession, or a combination of these devastating life-altering factors. So… what advice you can share with us?

You paint a very bleak picture for the baby boom generation, many of whom will be forced into retirement with no savings. And it seems to me more and more of these folks will be taking low-wage jobs really meant for teenagers — to use your headline — 70 is the new 17 — and will retire when they drop dead.

On the other end of the spectrum of course we have recent college grads going to work - having to pay-off thousands of dollars of student loans. What strategy for saving do you have for them?

I’d like you to talk about 401k and other company retirement plans. As you write, there’s a big difference between the traditional retirement accounts (from the Mad Men era) to what is generally offered today… what you refer to as DYI plans.

As you know, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most millennials will have 15-20 jobs during their lifetime — how do you protect your retirement funds when changing jobs? And what can you do to make sure they're not lost? You advise not to convert these to IRAs?

A number of young people join small start-ups that have no retirement plans, or are self-employed. What advice to you have for them?

You write, “the smartest people have fantasy based retirement plans.” Can you expand on this?

To sort of expand on this, lots of professionals believe they can score big in the stock market and/or real estate. You thoughts?

What happens to retirement funds when a company goes bankrupt?

What do economists mean when you talk about secure retirement?

Why do you advocate for a retirement income equal to at least 80% of your pre-retirement income?

Talk to us about debt… Credit card debt, auto loans, mortgages… as you write, many people consider their mortgages as forced savings - with the tax write-off as an added bonus.

I’d like to to talk about what you refer to as “a guy,” AKA financial advisor. I would assume that most professionals earning six f...