CHICAGO (Reuters) – Intel Corp. has something new inside: A $25,000 retiree benefit to help older workers transition into new careers in non-profit organizations.

Last year, the technology giant launched the Intel Encore Career Fellowship – a program offering a paid, one-year, $25,000 stipend to encourage near-retirement employees to put their skills to work in new careers with a social purpose.

CHICAGO, March 21 (Reuters) – Ellen Goodman spent decades
talking with Americans through her Pulitzer Prize-winning
newspaper column about social change and the women’s movement.
But when her mother became severely ill several years ago, it
struck her there was one profoundly important conversation the
two of them had never had.

“My mother was the kind of person who would talk about your
problems until you were bored with them,” says Goodman.

CHICAGO, March 19 (Reuters) – The economic recovery is not
helping Americans shake a bad case of the retirement jitters.

Workers and current retirees are less confident than ever in
their ability to live comfortably in the post-employment world,
according to the 2013 Retirement Confidence Survey published
Tuesday by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Employee Benefits Research
Institute.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – We’ve all heard the scary numbers. Experts say Americans need to set aside hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for health care in retirement — $200,000, $300,000 or more. Billions and billions, as the late astronomer Carl Sagan would have said.

But these forecasts are just average figures; it is harder to get a handle on what your own health care spending will really be in retirement. And with so many struggling to save anything at all, what’s the point of trying to plan specifically for health care?

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Are employers stingier with their 401(k) matching contributions when they automate the enrollment process?

Auto-enrollment has been a hot trend in the 401(k) world over the last few years. The idea is to nudge workers to save who might not otherwise do so through a simple behavioral change: action needs to be taken to opt out, instead of opt in. A study by behavioral economists Shlomo Benartzi and Richard H. Thaler, released today in Science magazine, says that 56 percent of companies offer some kind of auto-enrollment program, up from 19 in 2005.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – It is time to stop blaming the victim when it comes to women and retirement planning.

An endless stream of studies and surveys all show women are less prepared for retirement than men. The typical story line: “Women aren’t interested in managing money, and they’re not good at it. They’re more interested in other things – family, friends, children.”

CHICAGO, Feb 28 (Reuters) – Would you like some investment
help with that 401(k)?

A growing number of employers are adding unbiased
third-party investment guidance options as they work to improve
their retirement plans. The advice can add to your investment
costs, but it’s coming from the best type of planner:
independent advisers who have the fiduciary responsibility to
put client interests first.

CHICAGO, Feb 21 (Reuters) – There will be good and bad news
next year for seniors using Medicare’s prescription drug
program.

Overall, enrollees can expect a year of flat or decreasing
Medicare prescription drug costs, according to data released
last week by the federal government. The government said
Medicare’s per-beneficiary drug costs fell 4 percent last year.
As a result, some of the most important numbers in the program’s
2014 Part D will drop by roughly the same amounts.

CHICAGO, Feb 14 (Reuters) – The gender gap is about to get a
little wider as the formerly egalitarian long-term care
insurance market starts charging higher prices for women.

While life insurance has long been priced by sex, companies
that provide long-term care insurance (LTCI), mainly used to
cover healthcare expenses in old age or for severe illness, have
long avoided it. But for the first time this year, they will
introduce gender-based pricing, starting with policies from
Genworth Financial Inc, the nation’s largest seller.

CHICAGO, Feb 7 (Reuters) – Susan Damour flunked retirement.
She tried it at age 64 in 2008 along with her husband, Tim, who
was 68. That lasted a year.

Overseas travel, cooking and knitting baby sweaters for the
grandchildren weren’t enough to satisfy her. Tim, a retired
attorney, was happy, but she hated it.