Born into crisis, gen Z is saving for retirement like no other generation | Gene Marks

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Research published at the end of last year by the Investment Company Institute with help from the University of Chicago found that gen Z – those born between 1997 and 2012 – are “outpacing” earlier generations in contributing to retirement, having more than three times more assets in their 401(k) retirement savings accounts than gen X households had at the same time in 1989, adjusted for inflation,This mirrors a 2023 study from the TransAmerica Center for Retirement Studies, which found that gen Z is doing a “remarkable job” saving for retirement with many putting away as much as 20% of their income towards the future,It’s no wonder why,The oldest of this generation probably have early memories of the 2009-2010 financial crisis,They have lived through a global pandemic.

Their social media accounts are frightening them with stories of political upheavals, global warming, indiscriminate violence, riots, chaos and anarchy.Older generations got this kind of news maybe once or twice a day.This generation gets it fed to them every minute.They yearn for security.And one way is to save their money.

The question is, are they doing enough? What more could be done? Here are three things we should be considering.Thanks to the Secure2022 legislation, employers can now not only offer Roth 401(k) plans for their employees but can also contribute to those plans.We should all have one.That’s because – within income limitations – contributions to a Roth 401(k) are made after taxes have been paid but then grow tax-free and can be withdrawn without any tax liability after the age of 59 1/2.gen Zers – who are likely to be paying less in taxes now due to their relatively lower salaries – can put this money away at lower rates, rather than just defer taxation to a future year when, under regular 401(k) rules, distributions become required.

And they can let these sums grow without worrying about paying any more taxes in the future.As an employer, you can provide investment options that can help maximize their returns too.Another great after-tax vehicle is the 529 plan.By offering this plan, an employer can help their employees – both younger and older – put after-tax money away that will grow tax-free and can then be withdrawn if used to pay for higher education, private school or religious school.It’s a great way for gen Zers to save for their future kids’ education instead of paying for it out of funds that would be used for their own retirement years down the line.

Health Saving Accounts have exploded in popularity over the past decade, and it’s no surprise why.With these accounts – which need to be paired with a high deductible group insurance plan – employees can sock away pre-tax dollars to be used for medical expenses that are not reimbursed by their health plans.Gains and withdrawals are not taxed.The beauty of these plans is you don’t have to use them or lose them – any unused balances just roll over to the next year.Some call it a 401(k) for healthcare, and they’re not wrong.

It’s a great way for younger employees to put away money that could help pay for their future healthcare costs without interfering with their retirement savings,Agree or not, the Trump administration has reversed course with its predecessor and is now demanding student loan repayments,The result is that many younger people are going to need to face the reality of making good on their debt,One fallout will surely be less cash available to put away for retirement,But as employers, we can help.

The Secure 2022 legislation now makes it legal for us to match their student loan payments with contributions to their 401(k) plans.This way even if they don’t have enough funds to put away for the future, employers can help make up the difference.This is something we should all consider.As a certified public accountant, I have spent my life dealing with money – both my own and my clients’.And yet every day I learn something new and still have to rely on the internet to clarify and research financial questions that I have.

Now, imagine being a 25-year-old trying to figure out all the options,It’s impossible,A good employer should have an outside financial counselor on retainer who can provide one-to-one advice for their employees once or twice a year,My best clients do this,And it’s not just about retirement.

It’s buying a house, getting insurance, owning a car … all the financial decisions that in the end affect what’s left over for retirement,According to a recent Goldman Sachs survey 60% of gen Z respondents report “having a personalized financial plan, not just for retirement but also for goals like buying a home or a car” and 68% “believe their savings are on-track or ahead of schedule”,Sounds great,But I’m betting that “plan” could be improved,Employers should be providing more help to help save for retirement.

And the good news is that they have got a generation eager to take it,
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I was sexually assaulted by a celebrity after starring in a cult film at 19. My quest for justice changed the course of my life

Jenny Evans had just starred in her first film when everything came crashing down. Twin Town was a riot of drugs, fast cars and bad behaviour labelled the “Welsh Trainspotting”. She had a wonderful time making the movie, which was released in 1997. There was a feelgood atmosphere on set, and she got on brilliantly with her fellow actors (Twin Town launched the careers of Rhys Ifans and Dougray Scott). “Friends of the cast and crew were coming down from London to Swansea because the vibe was so good,” she says

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Young carer ‘amazed’ as Guardian readers pay off her £2,000 fine for benefit rules mistake

A young carer who had looked after her disabled mother since she was eight said she was “amazed” and “overwhelmed” after Guardian readers paid off her £2,000 fine for a mistaken breach of widely condemned benefits rules.Rose Jones, 22, was ordered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to repay £2,145 after joining a government youth employment scheme that meant she overstepped “draconian” carer’s allowance earnings regulations.Jones said she was twice wrongly advised by her jobcentre work coach that her wages earned under the Kickstart scheme would not affect her eligibility for carer’s allowance.However, less than a year after she completed the six-month scheme, under which the DWP paid her wages, she received a demand from the same government department that she pay back £2,145 of overpaid benefits.Emily Holzhausen, the director of policy at Carers UK, said it was “devastating” to see a young person with a “challenging start in life be badly let down by the DWP”

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Trevor Hendy obituary

My friend Trevor Hendy, who has died aged 89, was director of development at United Kingdom Housing Trust (UKHT) in the 1980s, a period in which, among other things, he brought back to life its Arlington House property, a 900-bed hostel for working men in north London that had fallen into squalor under private ownership. Trevor oversaw much-needed improvements to living conditions there, and the hostel (of which I was a board member) is still operating.He left UKHT in the late 80s to set up a housing consultancy, Chapman Hendy Associates, with Peter Chapman, which helped housing associations to make their planned developments a reality and played a key role in the setting up of new organisations to receive the transfer of thousands of homes from local authorities.Born in Newcastle upon Tyne to Arthur, a joiner, and his wife, Nora (nee Finlay), Trevor grew up in nearby Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, where he went to the local grammar school. Afterwards he studied architecture at evening classes while working during the day as a clerk in the office of a chartered architect and surveyor

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Sally Adams obituary

My mother, Sally Adams, who has died aged 73, worked for many years at Papworth hospital in Cambridge, where she was a sister in the intensive therapy unit and was one of the nurses who cared for Keith Castle, the UK’s first successful heart transplant patient, in 1979.She worked at Papworth from 1975 to 1990 (except for a two-year spell at Treliske hospital in Truro in 1986-88). Then she switched to bereavement counselling until her retirement in 2019.Sally was born in Royston, Hertfordshire, to Betty (nee Pigg), a dinner lady, and Alan Whitmore, a lorry driver. Sally attended the local Meridian school, where she decided early on that she had to be a nurse

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Women in poorest parts of England and Wales ‘will spend only two-thirds of life in good health’

Healthy life expectancy for women in the most deprived areas of England and Wales has fallen to the lowest level since recent records began, with those women now likely to spend only two-thirds of their lives in good health.Women living in wealthier parts of England are likely to enjoy about two more decades of healthy life, the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data has shown.Female babies born between 2020 and 2022 in the most deprived areas of England were likely to spend just 65.1% of their lives in good health, compared with 81.5% in the least deprived areas, the ONS found

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Vital steps to move the NHS from cure to prevention | Letters

Your articles on health inequality this week included excellent coverage of the government’s project to shift the emphasis of healthcare from treatment at the clinic and hospital to prevention through public health initiatives (Downing Street’s radical plan for the NHS: shifting it from treatment to prevention, 29 June). However, one key element is missing from the analysis that has frustrated the implementation of such necessary innovations: the way that undergraduate students are educated and socialised into medicine within longstanding conservative curricula.Historically, doctors gain an identity that is grounded in the sanctity of the “clinic” (primarily the hospital) as a well-patrolled territory with idiosyncratic rituals and language. Patients are kept on the other side of the fence. Medical education traditionally affords little work-based experience in the first two years, but after that students gain increasing exposure to clinical work