The U.S. fiscal and economic challenges today stem from a basic problem: too many companies and assets are owned solely for profit. It boils down to what I will call an ownership crisis.

Because mortgages were owned by investors all over the world, when the U.S. housing market collapsed, the pain was global, as homeowners and financial institutions went into a downward economic spiral.

Now, the debates surrounding the growing federal debt raise related concerns: Who owns America? Will foreign nations continue to buy Treasury securities and invest in U.S. businesses? The past three years show us why it is time to consider a different approach to ownership: cooperatives. If more assets and businesses were owned and controlled by the people who use them, our economy could be more stable.

Read more at The New York Times.

For today’s working adults, retirement is more likely to be based on the safety-net level of benefits from Social Security, supplemented with personal savings and investment.

The catch is, however, that too many African-Americans are saving too little for retirement.  The fact that 70 percent of African-American workers had saved less than $25,000 for retirement, according to a 2007 survey by the Employment Benefit Research Institute, suggests there will be little "gold" in our golden years.
 

Read more at The Florida Courier, The Washington Informer, and The Madison Times.

A presentation on Obstacles to Saving for Retirement was given by Dr. Wilhelmina Leigh for the National Press Foundation's Retirement Issues 2011 forum on June 14, 2011. This presentation is available for download below. More presentations and information from this forum can be found at the National Press Foundation website.

The racial/ethnic wealth gap in this country is both huge and persistent. The ratio between the median net worth of white households and African American households is nearly 7:1, while the white-Hispanic ratio is nearly 5:1 (Bucks, Kennickell, and Moore 2006). Despite increased awareness of these gaps, clear consensus has yet to emerge about the steps needed to narrow them. Some of this lack of consensus relates to a lack of understanding of the causes of this disparity.

This report explores the determinants of wealth and of the racial/ethnic disparities in asset and wealth accumulation. The narrative provides an overview of past research1 that has addressed this issue and highlights the most relevant findings. Its goal is to shed light on the causes of the racial/ethnic wealth gap and to provide answers to the question, “What’s race got to do with it?”

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Making the decision about when to leave the workforce is challenging and complicated, in spite of the existence of retirement income calculators and other tools.

Some people want to “die with their boots on,” while others would prefer to die wearing sandals or running shoes and in some venue other than the workplace. In the best case, workers retire when their productivity diminishes, when there is something to move on to (often another full-time job, part-time work, an expanded avocation, or full-blown leisure), and when resources are available to enable them to make the desired move.

Read more at The New York Times.

Although many African Americans depend on Social Security benefits to meet their basic needs, the value of the program to this group is often debated and sometimes misrepresented or discounted. At a time when the nation is seeking to put its financial house in order and concurrently considering reforms to guarantee the future solvency and sustainability of Social Security, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, with support from AARP, prepared this primer to spell out the facts about how Social Security's disability, survivor and retirement programs serve African Americans.

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Among pre-retirees, confidence about having enough money to live comfortably throughout retirement typically reflects the state of one’s current savings behavior, known savings vehicles and expected major sources of retirement income. African Americans and whites have differing assessments of their own retirement security, and their differing views suggest that the recent economic downturn may have constrained African Americans’ ability to save for retirement to a greater degree than it has for whites. This brief provides details about differences between the two groups in retirement saving and expectations in both 1998 and 2009.

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The phone rings. It's your 75-year-old Aunt Mildred, the one who helped you and your brother financially after your father died. She also helped your first cousins whose mom was disabled, and always had a little extra for her brother Steve who had difficulty making ends meet after he retired. Aunt Mildred is calling to ask for your help managing her finances. She wants to be able to continue helping her family as she ages, and to continue providing for those family members who have the greatest unmet needs.

Like Aunt Mildred, the Social Security system at age 75 needs assistance to manage its finances and continue helping the people of all racial and ethnic groups in the United States who receive its benefits because of disability, retirement or a family member's death.

Read the Full Story at theRoot.com ro newdeal20.org.

This edition of the Women of Color Health Data Book, prepared by the Joint Center for the National Institutes of Health, provides the most recent available information on different populations of women in the United States and represents a much desired update on the health of women of color. Originally published in 1997, and updated in 2002, this third edition of the Women of Color Health Data Book includes more information and updated statistics. The standards have been revised to include five minimum racial categories: American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and white. This edition of the Women of Color Health Data Book continues to support recognition of the importance of women’s health and, more specifically, the role of culture, ethnicity, race, socioeconomic background, geographic location, and other social and economic factors as important contributors to health status. The expanded concepts of women’s health, and therefore research, focus on the study and understanding of women’s health as a reflection of the myriad of elements that contribute to the overall quality of women’s lives in the United States today.

Download this publication from the National Institutes of Health.

Between 1997 and 2005, numerous polls were conducted to assess the views of the U.S. population about savings behavior, expected sources of retirement income, and the status of the Social Security system. This report examines findings from these polls for African Americans, white Americans, and persons of all races (combined) and makes comparisons across racial/ethnic groups as data allow. The vast majority of these polls surveyed the general population without disaggregation by race. For example, 38 polls of persons of all races (combined) conducted between 1999 and 2005 were identified that included a question about optional stock market investment by individuals to foster the solvency of the Social Security system. However, only four polls (two by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, one by AARP, and a survey series by Ariel Mutual Funds/Charles Schwab & Company, Inc.) were identified that surveyed either African Americans alone or African Americans along with other racial groups about this issue. As a result, racial comparisons cannot be made for all issues.

Despite these challenges, this analysis of public wealth-related knowledge and savings behavior reveals that many individuals do not have adequate personal savings and investments for retirement. This information powerfully demonstrates the need for social insurance, in particular for the Social Security program. In addition, knowledge gleaned from surveys about various racial/ethnic groups' views of Social Security reform proposals can help guide the development of reform proposals that address the needs and concerns of these groups. The major findings of this report are presented below.

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Date Published: April 2007