ARLINGTON, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) The Texas Masonic Retirement Center said Tuesday that 210 employees and residents tested negative for COVID-19, but four have tested positive.

This after a resident died and later tested positive for COVID-19.

The employees who tested positive had already been in self-isolation at home well before testing and their condition is improving, Gary Blair, Superintendent of the facility said in a statement.

Texas Masonic Retirement Center (Credit: CBS 11)

The residents, who both live in the independent living areas, continue in isolation and their condition is also improving, he said.

All residents had been in isolation for a week prior to testing.

We ask for your continued prayers and expressions of concern as we walk through this challenging time with those who are so dear to our hearts, said Blair.

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4 More Residents, Employees Test Positive For Coronavirus At Retirement Center In Arlington Where Resident Died Of COVID-19 - CBS Dallas / Fort Worth

A nurse emerges from a tent with a kit to test for Covid-19 at a drive-through testing station for University of Washington medical center employees in Seattle, Washington. Photograph: Stephen Brashear/EPA

Government officials across the US are calling on retired health workers to come back to work amid the coronavirus pandemic, expecting the current workforce of health workers to be overwhelmed and many to fall ill themselves.

The call for retired workers and other qualified medical professionals to help frontline staff underscores the desperate measures officials expect will be needed to care for a surge in ill patients, as older workers themselves will be much more susceptible to complications and death from Covid-19.

New Yorks mayor, Bill de Blasio, called on retired doctors to volunteer last week, with 1,000 workers responding in one day. Some states are working to quickly re-certify health professionals expired licenses. Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois cut red tape to allow doctors and nurses to renew expired licenses. The US Department of Veterans Affairs called on doctors to rejoin to care for ill former military.

Theres a sense right now that its kind of the calm before the storm, said Dr Marvin Malek, 67, a primary care doctor in rural Springfield, Vermont. Ive done a lot of inpatient care. I could imagine being drafted to go back to the hospital if we have a lot of ventilator patients, he said. He said he would say yes to such a request.

The USs private healthcare system means responses to the outbreak have varied from state to state. In New York, which has fast become a global hotspot, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday that projections for needed hospital beds had sharply increased as the number of cases rises more quickly than predicted. Now, state officials expect 140,000 patients will need hospital beds, 30,000 higher than previous projections. New York currently has about 55,000 hospital beds.

A bed without staff is virtually useless, said Cuomo. I will turn this state upside down to get the number of beds we need. But we need the staff for those beds.

He continued, Were calling and contacting all retirees in the healthcare field, were calling all professionals in the healthcare fields, whether or not they work in a hospital, they can work at an insurance company, a clinic, whatever, but we want to enlist as many staff as we can.

Already, 40,000 health professionals have volunteered to act as a surge health force. Among them, are 2,400 nurse practitioners, 2,200 doctors have volunteered to help in the crisis. Another 6,000 mental health professionals are providing free therapy.

The problem of keeping hospitals, clinics and nursing homes staffed during the crisis is underscored by the very nature of the disease the world is fighting. In Wuhan, China, the likelihood of infection among medical workers was more than three times as high as the general population.

The coronavirus is highly contagious, and spreads through droplets of mucus and saliva, leaving health workers many of whom are caring for patients without the appropriate protective equipment at risk.

Existing staffing shortages are only likely to be exacerbated by the epidemic. About 100 rural hospitals in the US have closed since 2010. Further, of the more than 7,000 areas in the US with existing doctor shortages, 60% are in rural areas.

Already, healthcare workers have begun to get sick. Two emergency room doctors in New Jersey and Washington state were put in critical care last week. A New York nurse who spoke with the Guardian said a colleague was recently admitted to intensive care in her own hospital, ill with Covid-19, and had to be put on a ventilator.

Dr Kelly Cawcutt, the associate director of infection control and critical care at the University of Nebraska medical center, which cared for Covid-19 patients from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, said she expected up to 40% of her workforce could fall ill at any one time.

Were bracing for the potential of having up to 30-40% of the healthcare workforce step out of care at a given point of time, Cawcutt told the Guardian.

A retired emergency department doctor in Illinois said he has been monitoring the situation for months, and wondering when to step in.

Ive been trying to figure out how I can contribute since January when this all started, Dr Scott Altman told local news station WGN. It was very clear we were going to need to respond quickly and forcefully.

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Retired health workers urged to return as US coronavirus cases set to spike - The Guardian

The number of veterans who have have tested positive for coronavirus has increased from 204 on Monday to 296 confirmed cases on Tuesday. Reported deaths also inched up from two on Monday, to four on Tuesday.

The uptick comes as the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs braces for an influx of patients, and asks for additional health care workers to staff medical facilities.

The department has called out to retired VA and federal health care workers on Twitter and Facebook, to reapply for clinical jobs: "WE NEED YOU! Help us in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. Consider #VA re-employment."

The appeals from the VA, which is the largest health care system in the U.S., come after Secretary Robert Wilkie said last week that the department was getting ready to deploy 3,000 medical staff to assist in the national fight against coronavirus.

The department entered the coronavirus epidemic short-staffed with 44,000 vacancies.

Those health care workers willing to come out of retirement to help VA clinics and hospitals may themselves be at higher risk of contracting coronavirus, because they're likely to be in the most vulnerable age group.

The job openings "could include both direct patient care and telehealth options, as well as call center and other administrative support."

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VA Wants Retired Health Care Workers Back To Treat Surge In Vets With Coronavirus - NPR

Retirement planning can be stressful. After all, many people are saving too little and studies have repeatedly shown thatAmericans fear they're not likely to have enough money to last throughout retirement. If you're worried about running short of cash, you may be dreading a time in your life that you should be looking forward to.

While it's really common to stress over retirement savings, I have no worries about my plans for the future. In fact, I never spend a moment thinking about saving for my later years. There are three primary reasons why.

Image source: Getty Images.

Most people get regular paychecks on specific days. Although I do freelance work, I also get funds deposited at specific times from the companies I work for. On the days when I know money will be deposited, I've set it up so some is automatically moved from my bank account into my investment account.

The money disappears as soon as it's put in so I couldn't spend it even if I wanted to. Because of that, I don't have to control my spending and try to make sure I have enough left over to invest. I don't have to manually move money over to my retirement accounts, either -- the money just goes where it's supposed to with no intervention and I don't have to think about it.

If I had a traditional job and a workplace 401(k), this would be even easier since I could sign up to have money taken right from my paycheck. If your employer offers this option, take it. If you don't have a 401(k), you can do what I do and set up automatic contributions for yourself.

While most financial experts traditionally recommend saving 10% of your income for retirement, evidence suggests it's better to save about 15% to 20% given longer lifespans and market conditions today. I err on the side of caution and save 20%, to make sure I'll have enough.

If you have an employer match for 401(k) contributions, you can factor that money in when figuring out the total percentage of your income you save. But if you want to avoid worrying about having enough as a retiree, aim to save a larger percentage of funds than is often advised.

You won't have to stress as much about market downturns if you're putting more into your accounts, since larger investments can lead to a bigger nest egg, even if your return on investment is lower than anticipated. And if something unexpected happens, such as a job loss or income cut or forced early retirement, the extra money you've put in means you should hopefully have enough to weather the storm.

The stock market has been on a wild ride in recent days, thanks to the novel coronavirus. But I haven't done more than briefly glance at my investment account online and haven't made any changes.

That's because I invest in a wide range of different kinds of assets in different sectors. By spreading my money around, I reduce the losses I incur when some assets perform poorly because there will be others that do better.

I'm also confident I've built a diversified portfolio that will perform well over the long term, so I don't have to worry about short-term market declines.

If you want to do the same, make sure you're investing the right percentage of your assets in the stock market (subtract your age from 110 to figure out what that is). And spread your money around so you have some investments in big companies, mid-sized companies, small companies, and emerging markets.

It feels good not to be worried about retirement savings. While it took me a while to get to the place where I was confident I'd have enough for a secure future, I was able to do it by making lifestyle choices and ensuring I made saving for retirement a priority.

The steps I took aren't impossible. In fact, they're things that anyone could do. If you're ready to stop worrying about your own nest egg, you may want to try them out for yourself.

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3 Reasons I Don't Have to Think About My Retirement Plan - The Motley Fool

Moments before the NBA suspended its season, Thurl Bailey was at Chesapeake Energy Arena preparing to call a game between the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder that would never happen. It was a night like any other, until it wasnt.

After Jazz all-star Rudy Gobert tested positive for coronavirus and the 18,000-plus person crowd was calmly instructed to exit the building, Bailey, who played in Utah for 10 seasons, was whisked off the court behind Jazz players and broadcast colleagues.

The 58-year-old recalls being led with about seven others into a lounge near the visitors locker room. There they sat, eyes glued to a television that was reporting their own surreal experience in real time. Jazz head coach Quin Snyder settled some of Baileys nerves when he walked in the room to brief everyone on the situation, as serious as it was. Eventually Bailey was led from that room to another, where medical professionals in protective gear, gloves, and facemasks collected his personal information so he could be tested for Covid-19.

A doctor braced him for the process by letting him know what to expect and how uncomfortable it might be, before a cotton swab was inserted into his nose and mouth. According to Bailey, it was painless and simple. Waiting for results was anything but. After they quarantined at the arena for over four hours, the Jazz spent the night in an Oklahoma City hotel. Bailey sat in his room, concern mounting as he thought about his wife and children.

What if my test is positive? he remembers. Was I next to Rudy? How long was I next to him? Can you receive it if youre on the same plane as people? All those things you start replaying in your mind.

In the morning a Jazz employee called Bailey with good news: his results were negative. Soon after, the team flew back to Salt Lake City where they met with Angela Dunn, a state epidemiologist at Utahs Department of Health. She went over different risk factors, explained the meaning of asymptomatic, and made strong suggestions on how they (and everyone around them) should act through the life-changing days and weeks and months that loomed ahead.

Before the season was suspended, Baileys daily responsibilities were not limited to his job as a broadcast analyst for the Jazz. Earlier this month, he was elected as a board of director for the National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA), a 1,000-plus member organization that includes some of the sports most integral historic figures former players from the NBA, WNBA, ABA, and Harlem Globetrotters.

No ones immune to [Covid-19], but it is a greater concern for our demographics, if you will, Bailey says. A lot of our players are the older generation, Bailey said.

Right now, in the face of a crippling global pandemic, its members also represent an increasingly vulnerable and shaken segment of society that needs all the security, support, and accurate information they can find. The average member is 55 years old and over 200 of them are at least 70. All are impacted by the coronavirus, stressed over their own future, from a physical, emotional, and financial perspective.

In addition to Bailey who previously served before he was termed out of the role due to appointment related rules other recently elected directors include Shawn Marion, Sheryl Swoopes, and Dave Cowens. (Cowens helped found the association in 1992 with Oscar Robertson, Dave Bing, Archie Clark, and Dave DeBusschere.) Johnny Davis was named chairman of the board after spending 34 seasons as an NBA player and coach, while Jerome Williams and Grant Hill were elevated into different roles on the executive committee.

Normally, the association serves multiple functions. Its a helping hand to members in search of new professional and/or educational opportunities. It reminds them of their own value as walking brand names, and encourages them to engage with the public in different ways. But unfortunately, our current timeline is anything but normal. The NBRPA has always expressed solicitude for its own, but right now its first, second, and third priority is to ensure the health and wellness of every member who feels susceptible.

No ones immune to [Covid-19], but it is a greater concern for our demographics, if you will, Bailey says. A lot of our players are the older generation.

The NBRPA has been in front of the issue as best it can. All former players with at least three years service have healthcare coverage, while counseling services, scholarships, grants, and a rainy day fund for any members who are struggling to cope are in place. General awareness of these resources has been spread via email and phone calls, but this pandemics unpredictable scale will test mechanisms that have never been burdened by a threat this widespread and relentless.

Many members work part time and are unsure of how theyll pay their next bill or make future house payments. Dozens have contacted the organization for assistance, which tells NBRPA President and CEO Scott Rochelle that many more may want to. Theres probably another hundred who need to reach out or havent reached out but need the information, he tells me. So thats guiding our efforts to date.

Spencer Haywood, who just termed out after two straight three-year stints as the NBRPAs chairman of the board, cant stop thinking about his fellow members, former teammates, and friends who were suffering even before the globe was blanketed by coronavirus.

I love them, Haywood says. Everybody just calls, Hey can you help me with $300. I need $400, $500. I need this to make my rent. I need this to get food ... We dont have a revenue stream. All of our guys have to work. Theyre doing basketball camps. Theyre traveling. They do groups. Thats how they make money ... Were at the very beginning [of this pandemic], so I know our family, the NBA retired family, were gonna have some drama. Im hoping that its not me. But who knows?

Now 70 and living in Las Vegas, Haywood has done his best to stay as safe as he possibly can, stopping just short of hoarding Purell and essential groceries several weeks ago when his brother, who lives in France, first told him how deadly the virus can be. His four daughters teased him about being overly cautious, but now admit he was right to be so proactive.

Aside from his inability to resist two concerts at the House of Blues, put on by Arrested Development and Leslie Odom Jr. before everything shut down I couldnt help myself! Haywood laughs. I went out against orders hes replaced daily trips to the gym with morning yoga and five-mile walks at a nearby park.

While shuttered at home last Saturday afternoon, Haywood a four-time NBA All-Star and ABA MVP as a 20-year-old rookie let a few hours pass in front of ESPNs panoramic Basketball: A Love Story documentary series, which featured his own 1971 Supreme Court case brought against the NBA that essentially allowed amateurs to bypass college and enter the NBA Draft straight out of high school. Im sitting there watching, he laughs. And Im like Damn. Pretty nice. I did some deep shit.

As it rolled across his television, Haywood says a few friends who were also cooped up watching the same thing decided to call him: They were like, Man, I didnt know you went through that kind of hell. And I said You were in the league! Man, oh man.

But the pandemic has also emphasized a few general frustrations Haywood wants to air: We wasted so much time in fake news and fake this, like shit, dude, if you didnt want to be president, why did you run?

He praises the donations made by current players to arena employees who, without NBA games, no longer have a job to do, and appreciates the players unions unanimous vote that gave healthcare coverage to retired players back in 2016 [NBPA President] Chris Paul has been a champion, Haywood says. I mean truly life saving.

But in the midst of a broad crisis that will be felt by more former players than are currently under the NBRPAs umbrella, Haywood also believes todays stars should make additional contributions. Its a survival thing. he says. Think about the ones who built it for you. Who built this big conglomerate for you. I think they just dont know. They never think about us.

The thing that bothers me so bad is they dont know when its gonna end, Cowens says, Or is it?

For the NBRPA, spring is typically a busy time of year, with college conference tournaments, the NCAA tournament, the McDonalds All-American game, and Full Court Press, a nationwide youth clinic launched through the Jr. NBA. In the coming months, members lined up to earn between $250-500k in appearances alone. Instead, thanks to a wave of cancellations, revenue is at zero. There are still engagement opportunities being explored through NBA2K, Twitch, and social media, but the ramifications are undeniable.

Speaking appearances are another source of income for those who can leverage their name and life experience to travel across the country and meet with different people. That includes Haywoods successor, Davis, the NBRPAs newly elected chairman. The 64-year-old lives in Asheville, North Carolina, and normally spends his time giving talks at different colleges and universities in the area. He also sits on the foundation board at UNC-Asheville, where hes heavily involved.

But with those opportunities no longer an option for the foreseeable future, Davis is instead staying put at his home up in the Blue Ridge mountains with his wife and son, where theyve lived since 2009. The warning bell has been sounded, he tells me. You can see the presence of what this virus has done. You can see it here in terms of how people are moving in their day to day lives. Its different. It feels different.

Davis is also spending some time acclimating to his new role with the NBRPA, going through the bylaws with Cowens, who lives in Maine for most of the year but has been down in Ft. Lauderdale since Jan. 10. Despite not having a full-time job, Cowens tries to keep himself busy. Last week he signed and mailed 800 basketball cards for Panini, the memorabilia company, that compensated him for the service. Its not a lot, but its enough to pay a few bills, he says.

The Hall of Famer currently lives two blocks from the beach in a 19-story building, with 12 units on each floor. Hes neighborly, but most of the residents are on the older side, and over the past couple weeks everybody has kept to themselves.

Nights are spent out on his balcony, drinking an occasional glass of wine. When asked about the NBA deciding to suspend its season, Cowens says he wouldve liked to see at least one game played without any fans in the stands. The sound of squeaking shoes, shouting coaches, grunting players, and a natural silence that would otherwise be filled by the Jumbotron reminds him of old exhibition games that his Celtics used to play against the Knicks in upstate New York. Only 1,500 people were in the stands.

But there are more pressing matters on his mind. Now 71, Cowens is troubled by everything we dont know about the coronavirus, how theres no vaccine or direct word from the inflicted about how it made them actually feel. He worries about his wife. He checks up on old college buddies from Florida State, and recently phoned former Celtics teammate Don Chaney, whos dealing with a heart condition and is likely at a higher risk than most.

Theres so much uncertainty. If youre feeling fine, but all of a sudden you start feeling sick, you then say Am I gonna die from this? And so you dont know. Young people dont care because theyre already immune to everything in the world anyway. Theyre gonna live forever. But theyre young, thats how they think, and for the most part theyre in pretty good shape for dealing with this, Cowens starts to chuckle. So I dont hang out at the clubs anymore. Thats not part of the schedule.

No one interviewed for this story can compare such active worldwide disruption to anything theyve witnessed or experienced firsthand. None can think of anything that comes close. Its an unknown anxiety, like walking a plank while blindfolded from an unknown height. The future grows more murky by the day. The thing that bothers me so bad is they dont know when its gonna end, Cowens says, Or is it?

He reminisces about his childhood in Newport, Kentucky. Cowens grandparents and aunt lived upstairs, in the same house as his parents and brother. His aunt would entertain with stories about getting to see Jim Thorpe (the only sports hero Cowens ever had) race with her own two eyes.

Cowens thinks about that time; how his grandfather lived to see his 60s despite serving in World War I and then enduring the Spanish Flu, which killed as many as 50 million people across the world. People are going to survive, Cowens says. Thats true. But the coronavirus will still crash into so many different lives, and so far the mortality rate for those it infects is substantially higher in seniors with underlying health issues.

Preparing for a disease that will infect and bankrupt thousands of people everyday was never in the NBRPAs sight line, and, frankly, itd be a little silly if it was. Very few organizations in this country, if any, were prepared. But that hasnt stopped them from doing whatever they can to steady the emotional wave so many are flailing through.

Right now, the organizations primary motivation is to keep a bad situation from getting worse, and so far most retired players are doing whatever they can to limit the damage. Social distancing and self-quarantining are two examples of individual responsibility each person must take seriously. Most retired players are. The NBRPA cant help those who wont help themselves, but they can spread facts and manageable tactics that will save lives. The minefield of misinformation can in many ways be as dangerous as an errant cough.

Towards the end of his career, Bailey spent four seasons playing overseas. Three of them were in Italy, where he formed lifelong friendships. For the last five summers, hes gone back to put on a basketball camp. Over the past couple weeks, Bailey has been texting with those who know firsthand what the coronavirus is capable of. They beg him to take it seriously. Given his position with the NBRPA, those around him are fortunate that he is.

Our organization is staying on top of our members and their families to make sure theyre getting through it, Bailey says. Its something that will always be etched in history. I was there. I was there the day the dominoes started to fall in Oklahoma City. In the sports world, anyway.

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How retired NBA players are helping each other survive the coronavirus - SB Nation

In preparation for the expected higher need for healthcare providers, the Pennsylvania Department of State took measures this week to aid the coronavirus response.

LANCASTER, Pa.

As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise, health systems will likely require more healthcare providers. In preparation for the expected higher need for healthcare providers, the Pennsylvania Department of State took measures this week to aid the coronavirus response.

Certain administrative requirements will be waived for healthcare providers, including allowing physicians who have retired in the last five years to reactivate their medical licenses through the end of the year for free.

Dr. Ed Balaban of Ambler retired from his work as a hematologist and oncologist about a year and a half ago. He now plans to apply to reactivate his license and volunteer to treat COVID-19 patients. Though Balaban remained a trustee-at-large for thePennsylvania Medical Society after his retirement, he never expected to be practicing medicine again so soon.

I think its only right that I help and participate where I can, he said. Physicians, nurses, healthcare providers in general, I think its just part of our genetic makeup.

Pennsylvania had1,127 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of March 25. The number of infected is expected to double every two to three days.

As case counts double you can see that its going to get very high, very fast, Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said in avirtual coronavirus update. The concern is that over the next number of weeks we are going to see a surge of new cases, and thus since approximately 10 percent of new cases require hospitalization, see a surge into our healthcare facilities.

The Department of States waiver of certain administrative requirements applies to physicians,nurses and pharmacists.

If the slope continues the way it is, then I suspect that a fair number of us will be needed, Dr. Balaban said.

The relaxed measures also allow current healthcare workers, like a family care nurse practitioner or retail pharmacist, to temporarily leave their usual specialties in order to care for COVID-19 patients, if needed.

So that we can move these people into these places where theres the greatest need, said Betsy Snook, CEO of thePennsylvania State Nurses Association.

Healthcare systems in need of volunteers or additional healthcare providers will reach out to the public through the media and online.

Some of it has already gone out through social media. And then the people can volunteer in that way, Snook said. They can just directly correspond with whoevers asking for the assistance.

The state also announced last week it was waiving licensing requirements for both in-state and out-of-state healthcare providers to treat patients viatelemedicine.

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Lori Kowit, The Temple Tifereth-Israels Ganon Gil director of Early Childhood Education, will retire June 30 after 20 years with the early learning center.

Kowit attributed her decision to retire to relieve her husband, David, from having to commute to and from Northeast Ohio for his job with mortgage lender Nations Lending in Columbus.

David has been commuting for a little over two years now, and I feel that for my familys sake, were going to be living together, said Kowit, who resides in Solon. My kids are both in college and were empty nesters. Its time for us to do the married thing.

Kowit, 46, started with Ganon Gil as a consultant in April 2000. In 2004, when Ganon Gil joined the congregation in Beachwood, she formally joined as director. In her role, the center opened its full-day program, including infant care in winter 2013, state-of-the-art facility in May 2016 and added its second infant room in fall 2019.

Kowit also served on the board and is president of the Early Childhood Educators of Reform Judaism.

Im most proud of growing this school to what it is today, Kowit said. We are a very high-quality rated early learning center. We have created a sustainable program that services the community for care for children, infant through pre-K. We really created this environment where we say Ganon Gil is more than a school, its a family, and thats so important to me.

Even as she adjusts to life in her condo in Westerville, a Columbus suburb, shell cherish the memories she gained teaching and nourishing countless young minds.

Two things that are so powerful and impactful to me are when Im sitting in high holiday services and Ganon Gil graduate kids are reading from the Torah for family services or when Im invited to a bnai mitzvah of a Ganon Gil graduate, Kowit said. As an early child educator, seeing the children grow over time and knowing Im a part of their life is the most fascinating, fabulous thing. What warms my heart is when I see who these children have become, knowing that I was a part of their formative years and helped guide their feelings, them and their learning.

Kowit is working alongside Erica Wilkov, Ganon Gil assistant director of early childhood, to create a transition plan. The congregation is working to develop a committee to focus on a three-part celebration of Kowit, transition and search for her replacement.

Despite calling it retirement, Kowit is only retiring from the position shes held for so many years. After taking some time to herself, she hopes shell be ready to share her dream job with Columbus.

My work in Jewish early child education has been so rewarding, and itll kill me if I dont have the opportunity to continue that, she said. But Ive always worked full time. I dont have any plans or know what Im going to do, but its time for me to take a little break.

Read more:
The Temple Tifereth-Israels Ganon Gil director Lori Kowit to retire - Cleveland Jewish News

Maurie Backman, The Motley Fool Published 7:00 a.m. ET March 4, 2020 | Updated 9:19 a.m. ET March 4, 2020

You can retire on just $30,000 a year at these destinations outside of the U.S. USA TODAY

Many people dream of retiring early, or at least on time.

But if you kick off that milestone unprepared, you'll regret pulling the trigger. And while delaying retirement may not be something you want to do, it's something you'll have to do if these three scenarios apply to you.

You need independent savings to live comfortably in retirement for one big reason: Social Security will replace only about 40% of the income you're used to, and that assumes you're an average earner. If you're an above-average earner, it will replace even less. Meanwhile, most seniors need 70% to 80% of their former paycheck to enjoy life and keep up with their bills, and retirement savings are generally what's needed to fill in that gap.

As a general rule of thumb, it's wise to enter retirement with about 10 times your ending salary socked away in an IRA or 401(k). If your current savings balance looks nothing like that, then you'll need to look at postponing retirement until you're able to get closer.

Say you're 65 years old and are itching to retire, but you currently earn $75,000 a year and have only $500,000 socked away. Though half a million dollars is certainly a respectable sum, it means you're still worlds away from the $750,000 should you be targeting. If that's the case, postponing retirement until age 70 will give you five more years to build wealth. And if you max out a 401(k) at today's annual limit for older workers $26,000 for five years, you'll wind up with a bit more than $750,000 if your investments in that account generate a relatively conservative 5% average annual return during that time.

Social Security: Should you claim at 66 years old? Here's how to tell

Taxes: Here are 3 ways they could be sabotaging your retirement income

Once you retire and move over to a fixed income, you may find that you're forced to cut back on certain expenses just to make ends meet. It therefore stands to reason that entering retirement with debt payments that monopolize your limited income is not a good thing to do at all.

If you're carrying debt, it pays to eliminate it before you retire, and you can do so by cutting back on expenses in your current budget or getting a second job to boost your earnings. This especially holds true if you're carrying credit card debt, which is generally considered the least healthy kind to have.

That said, if the only type of debt you have is mortgage debt, you don't necessarily need to postpone retirement until your home is paid off. Mortgage debt is regarded as one of the healthiest types of debt out there, and the interest you pay on your home loan can serve as a lucrative tax break.

Retirees are 40% more likely than workers to suffer from depression. The reason? They often find themselves hopelessly bored once they stop having a job to go to.

If you have no idea how you'll spend your days in retirement, then you're better off continuing to work until you figure it out. And if you know what you want to do with your time but can't afford it (say, you're hoping to travel extensively), work a few more years and boost your savings to make your goals more attainable. If you decide to retire without having a good sense of how you'll fill your days, you may find that your mental and physical health quickly start to deteriorate.

Postponing retirement may seem like a terrible thing to have to do, but remember, Americans are living longer these days, and if you push yourself to work until your late 60s or early 70s, there's a good chance you'll still enjoy a solid 20 years of retirement, if not more. And that way, you'll retire at a time when you're financially and emotionally ready.

The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The Motley Fool is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news, analysis and commentary designed to help people take control of their financial lives. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.

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If these 3 things apply to you, you'll have to postpone retirement - USA TODAY

2. Set a clear savings goal

Besides healthcare expenses, you'll need to supplement Social Security. It's important to have an idea of how much you'll need saved. There are multiple approaches to set a retirement savings goal, but one of the simplest is to figure out what your final salary is likely to be, and assume you'll need 10 times that amount.

With an idea of the amount you need to save, online calculators can tell you how much to invest each month to achieve your goal.

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Set this as the minimum monthly contribution. You can increase it later if your salary goes up unexpectedly or put aside some extra if you get a bonus. Just ensure your baseline savings will enable you to hit your target.

You'll probably need to do some budgeting to afford the necessary minimum contribution. This should be a priority, so you may need to cut spending in other areas.

You'll want to invest your retirement money in an account that provides tax breaks, such as a 401(k) or an IRA. By taking advantage of tax savings, you can more easily hit your savings goals since your taxable income won't be reduced as much.

Excerpt from:
5 Retirement Moves to Make Today That Your Future Self Will Thank You for - Elko Daily Free Press

Heres a quick calculation that can show you whether your finances are ready for you to retire: Take your last 12 months of spending and multiply it by 25. If your investment portfolio exceeds the product, youve crossed the threshold of financial freedom. If not, keep socking away until you get there.

This quick math is an offshoot of the 4% rule, a centerpiece of conversations between people on the cusp of retirement and their financial planners. If a potential retiree has assets of $1 million, they can retire safely if their annual spending is less than $40,000 a year (i.e $1 million x 4% = $40,000).

Two decades ago, thats all a 65-year-old needed to think about before cashing in on their hard-earned social security and pensions. But today, retirement itself has become more fickle, the result of fraying social safety nets, the changing employee-employer contract, and spillover effects from the global financial crisis; according to Gallup the average projected retirement age is 66, up from 60 in the 1990s.

Whats more, the glory of retirement is no longer the exclusive domain of the twilight years. Now, some people in their 30s and 40s aspire to spend most of their lives not working, and need their finances to be up to the task. This is the appeal of the Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) movement, whose disciples range from college kids to Google engineers, unified in their aim to save at least 50% of their income to reclaim their retirement destiny.

So should you base your anticipated retirement on the 4% rule? Does it matter whether youre planning to retire when youre 35 or 65? What are the assumptions that go into the rule and where could you get tripped up?

A typical retirement account is comprised of financial assets such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and bank deposits. These financial assets are held primarily in 401(k)s and brokerage accounts. Over the course of a persons career, the theory holds, both pools of assets should growfirst from additional contributions (such as automatic deductions into your 401(k)retirement account), and second from the increase in their value (i.e. stock prices going up).

If all goes according to plan, once you leave the workforce, you can live off the interest and dividends these assets produce, or you can sell them off little by little as a substitute for the income you once earned.

And heres where the 4% rule kicks in. Lets walk through the math:

You can also flip the calculation around by taking something that you knowyour annual spendingand seeing how much money youd need today (i.e. your hypothetical portfolio) to be able to retire. Heres the calculation in reverse:

The 4% rule is officially known as the safe withdrawal rate (SWR). First defined in the 1994 article Determining withdrawal rates using historical data,financial planner Bill Bengen used historical data to show that a retiree would be safe (i.e. they would not outlive their savings, according to actuarial estimates of life expectancies) if they spent no more than 4.2% of their portfolio each year.

Three professorsPhilip L. Cooley, Carl M. Hubbard, and Daniel T. Walzfrom Trinity University corroborated Bengens findings. In 1998, the trio published a study that used slightly different portfolios (different percentages of stocks and bonds, or other assumptions about a persons longevity) to arrive at a similar conclusion: a 4% withdrawal rate gives you a 95% chance of being safe.

Twenty years later, the Trinity Study, the 4% rule, and safe withdrawal rates are used interchangeably among people in retirement and those looking to retire. Mr. Money Mustache (ne Peter Adeney), the FIRE movements de facto chief evangelist, argues in a blog post: Far from being a risky proposition, assuming 4% safe withdrawal rate is actually the most conservative method of retirement saving I could possibly recommend.

The studies behind the 4% rule assume that your retirement will last for up to 30 years. If you retire in your early 60s and live to about 80, that feels like a safe bet. But it can be hard to predict how long youll live; though the average life expectancy is 76 for men and 81 for women in the US, we all know (or have at least heard of) exceptions who have lived well into into their 90s. For those privileged enough to live extra long lives, the rule would fail, possibly putting their financial stability at risk.

Now imagine looking to FIRE in your 30s. Simply because of their age, younger folks have a higher likelihood of reaping the benefits of medical breakthroughs that could extend life expectancies. How could you project your future expenses if you become the first person to live to age 150?

Another critique of the 4% rule is that life is messy, complicated, and unpredictable. No matter your age, its simply unrealistic to assume that ones spending stays constant over time. Add to that the variability of healthcare costsone researcher found that someone earning an average wage in 1958 had to work nearly 15 days to cover a particular medical expense, while a worker in 2012 would need 58 days worth of wagesand it seems absurd to assume that one number could so much of your future financial livelihood. Furthermore, the size and long-term viability of entitlement programs such as Medicare and social security are not a guarantee. Even for people retiring now, relying too heavily on these programs to take care of you in retirement is no longer the safe bet it once was.

Rising medical bills are part of why retirement can be so expensive. In the 2013 paper Estimating the true cost of retirement, David Blanchett, the head of retirement research atthe financial research firm Morningstar, observed that there appears to be a retirement spending smile whereby the expenditures actually decrease in real terms for retirees throughout retirement and then increase toward the end driven by a significant increase in relative healthcare spending exposures.

But if youre looking to retire in your 30s and kids are a part of your future, the dramatic uptick in costs for things like education and healthcare might not leave you smiling at all. In 2017, the US Department of Agriculture estimated the cost of raising a child at $233,610excluding the cost of education (private college cost an average of $35,676 per year in 2019). Conversely, pursuing a DINK (dual income, no kids) lifestyle wouldmake your spending more predictable.

If you have that gnawing feeling that the viability of the 4% rule is left over from an era in which we could count on systems not to fail, you wouldnt be alone. Professional investors, academics, and policy-makers have been debating if the combination of the 2008financial crisis,along withglobal central banks aggressive monetary policy (focused on keeping interest rates historically low to stimulate economic growth) has permanently changed the future return prospects of both stocks and bonds.

One of the anchors of any retirement portfolio is the US Treasury bond, which pays interest and principal (i.e. the amount you invested in the Treasury bond)with the backing of the US government. The bonds have the highest credit rating of any investment in the world, which means the chances of not getting your payments are extremely low. That means theyre a great source of income for retirees.

When Bengen introduced the 4% rule 25 years ago, a three-month US government bond paid interest at a rate of 4% which means you could pretty much guarantee the 4% needed for the rule to hold, with low risk of losing your invested money (as it would require the US government go bankrupt). Therefore, your spending could be easily covered by a very low risk investment. Today, that same bond pays a paltry 0.04%, forcing retirees to invest in far riskier instruments to clear the 4% threshold.

Those risky investments usually take the form of stocks, which zig, zag, and occasionally crash. Therefore, the timing of your retirement also impacts the validity of the 4% rule. If you started your retirement the day before the global financial crisis, youd be hit with a double whammy: Youd have to sell investments that have lost money, with no chance for them to recover their value. Investors refer to this as sequencing riskthe sequence of your returns affects your outcomes.

In their 2013 paper The 4 Percent Rule is Not Safe in a Low-Yield World, Blanchett, alongside retirement researchers Michael Finke and Wade Pfau, argue that the success of the 4% rule in the US may be a historical anomaly and it cannot be treated as a safe initial withdrawal rate in todays low interest rate environment. Today, this may be even more true.

Regardless of your age, planning your retirement around a single number is a risky proposition. The 4% rule is a great starting point, but assessing the likelihood of not outliving your retirement funds requires many more assumptions and calculations, then evaluating these assumptions under extreme circumstances (i.e. you live 10 years longer than the average life expectancy).

Plus, as you look further into the future, predictions begin losing their accuracy. Its quite easy for Tim Cook to predict how many iPhones hell sell tomorrow. But how about in ten years? Cook could probably still make an educated guess by extrapolating from current trends, but wed all acknowledge that many unknowns could dictate the final outcome. Humans, what with their surprise expenses, are even less predictable.

For FIREees, the 4% rule is a decent starting point, but it shouldnt be where their retirement preparation ends. So what makes Peter Adeney (aka Mr. Money Mustache), who retired at age 30 with a family to support, come down so confident in the the 4% rule? In his post Its all about the safety margin, Adney argues that FIRE itself has given him the flexibility and resilience to survive any potential negative financial and spending surprises arising from retiring early.

Adney believes that retiring at a young age afforded him the option to change his spending habits, such as moving to a smaller house or take fewer trips, or even re-enter the workforce to earn some additional income. There could also be positive surprises, as Adney doesnt factor social security into his 4% calculation. Should it still exist in 30 years, it would be all gravy for his family.

To anybody evaluating their retirement, the 4% rule is a decent starting point, but fails to paint the entire picture. But whether youre four or forty years from retirement, its a quick calculation that can determine if youre on the right path.

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The problem with using the 4% rule to plan for retirement Quartz - Quartz