Are Americans financially prepared for life after work?

By Jeff Schlegel. Timely article that appeared on the Financial Advisor website August 17, 2011. It helps contrast what I am doing for my clients today with what the industry as a whole is focused on (or not focused on, if that makes sense).

A recent Google search of the words “retirement crisis, America” produced 35,600,000 results in 0.09 seconds. Granted, this might not be the best proxy to gauge the depths of the national savings shortfall, but you’ve likely seen numerous headlines of late chronicling the slow-moving train wreck that’s predicted for the country’s collective retirement.

The basic narrative goes like this: We’re facing a perfect storm of low savings rates, increased longevity and rising health-care costs, pensions landing on the endangered species list as many vanish and some that remain are under assault from cutbacks and underfunding.

Add to that uncertainty about the long-term viability of Social Security and fears that financial markets are more volatile than ever and can’t be trusted to produce the long-term returns needed to pad a comfortable nest egg, and a gloomy picture takes shape. READ THE REST OF IT HERE…