Finance

Americans weigh in on whether a comfortable retirement is possible in today’s economy

Published

10 months ago

April 6, 2024

FOX Business’ Ashley Webster talks to diners in The Villages, Florida about retirement as a Northwestern Mutual survey claims it will take $1.46M to retire comfortably.

Americans weighed in on whether a comfortable retirement is out of reach as experts warn of a blooming crisis.

Florida residents gathered at the Flying Biscuit Café in The Villages on Friday and shared their thoughts on the cost of living and whether a stable retirement is unattainable amid the country’s raging inflation.

One Florida resident by the name of Lisa said that she sees herself “working and working” due to “everything” being “expensive.”

“You have to work harder, longer hours, more shifts just to cover everything,” she stressed to FOX Business’ Ashley Webster.

She went on to add that there’s “zero” ability to save.

COST OF LIVING HINDERS YOUNGER GENERATIONS FROM SAVING FOR RETIREMENT: FIDELITY

Findings from the Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America show that U.S. households are draining their retirement savings, taking on debt and reducing the amount that they are setting aside for the future to maintain their present-day finances.

Florida resident shares her thoughts on the U.S. economy as concerns regarding retirement savings grow.

Another resident, Roger, who recently retired at the age of 80 after owning his business, said that he sees a lot of people working longer even though they may not want to.

“I see people here who are cashiers and who are working as waitresses, and people all over to get an odd job just to supplement their income,” he told Webster.

That is not the case for all Americans, as one woman who retired at 55 detailed her experience.

“I did a lot of planning to set a goal to retire early, and I was lucky to work for a good company and was able to do it,” she explained.

RETIREMENT CRISIS: GREAT RECESSION TAKES ITS TOLL ON YOUNGER BOOMERS

“We bought our house in The Villages fairly young, so that when we retired, it was paid off. So that helps,” she said.

The Village resident mentioned that her husband continuing to work allowed her to retire earlier.

BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink discusses saving money for retirement on ‘The Claman Countdown.’

“Life is good,” she added.

Concerns regarding retirement savings have grown in recent years.

A recent survey by Northwestern Mutual suggested it would take $1.46 million to comfortably retire.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

FOX Business’ Megan Henney contributed to this report

Finance

NFLX, UAL, IBKR and more

Published

12 hours ago

January 21, 2025

Business Finance News

Finance

David Einhorn says we have reached the ‘Fartcoin’ stage of the market cycle

Published

14 hours ago

January 21, 2025

Business Finance News

David Einhorn, President at Greenlight Capital, speaking at the 14th CNBC Delivery Alpha Investor Summit in New York City on Nov. 13th, 2024.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC

Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn thinks speculative behavior in the current bull market has ascended to a level beyond common sense.

“We have reached the ‘Fartcoin’ stage of the market cycle,” Einhorn wrote in an investor letter obtained by CNBC. “Other than trading and speculation, it serves no other obvious purpose and fulfills no need that is not served elsewhere.”

A crypto token called “fartcoin” exploded in popularity as the re-election of Donald Trump unleashed a storm of animal spirits on Main Street. The meme coin is now edging towards a $2 billion market value, surpassing many U.S.-listed companies.

More meme coins have emerged since the inception of fartcoin. President Donald Trump launched $TRUMP, a meme coin built on the Solana platform. Its market cap over the weekend climbed past $14 billion. The coin at one point was down more than 20% over the past 24 hours, but it has since cut its losses to around 3%. Trump’s wife Melania also unveiled a coin.

“Nothing stops the launch of many more tradable coins,” Einhorn said. “Perhaps we are leaving the Fartcoin stage of the market and entering the Trump (and Melania) memecoin stage. It’s anyone’s guess as to what will happen next, but it feels like it’s going to be wild.”

Einhorn’s letter comes as investors drive equities higher, buoyed by expectations of lower taxes and deregulation from the second Trump administration. On Tuesday, the day after the inauguration, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied more than 400 points. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.8% and 0.7%, respectively.

Shorting leveraged bitcoin ETFs

Greenlight took advantage of the craziness around crypto during the fourth quarter by betting against some popular ETFs linked indirectly to bitcoin.

The two funds the firm focused on were the T-Rex 2X Long MSTR Daily Target ETF (MSTU) and the Defiance Daily Target 2X Long MSTR ETF (MSTX). Those funds use derivatives to try to achieve two-times the daily returns of MicroStrategy, a software company that has turned itself into a bitcoin treasury vehicle in recent years.

The funds have at times struggled to achieve that goal due to MicroStrategy’s volatility and little supply of the derivatives most easily used to get the leveraged returns.

The letter said Greenlight took short positions against those funds during the quarter, partially offset by owning MicroStrategy stock in an arbitrage trade that was a “material winner.”