So, what's the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) been up to lately?

If you go to its research webpage, you will see that EBRI is putting out a lot of interesting research.

At this link, you will find reports related to issues raised in the State of the Union Address. That link includes information on tax treatment of benefits, public attitudes toward health insurance, and much, much more.

And here is a new report: How Are New Retirees Doing Financially in Retirement? Here are two findings from the report:

• Most new retirees are reasonably maintaining their income and assets: Over the 12-year period from 1992–2004, the majority of 65–75-year-old Americans appear to be starting their retirement reasonably successfully in terms of income and total wealth change. Overall, about 53 percent of Americans who have reached age 65 recently were found to have had no decline in household income, and 71 percent were found to have no decrease in total wealth over the period. About 60 percent had a decline in one or the other, but less than 20 percent had a decline in both.

• But those who are losing money are losing it fast: The prognosis does not look good for those in the study group who have experienced a wealth decline, as they are showing a sharp drop: There was a roughly 50 percent median decline in total wealth from 1992–2004 among those who experienced a decline, and the median average annual decline in total wealth surpassed 5 percent for this group—putting them at significant risk of running out of money in retirement. Those seeing a decline in financial wealth are posting a median decrease at approximately twice the level that research suggests is advisable. Although the HRS dataset does not allow detailed analysis, this is probably due to excessive spending rather than investment loss.

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