From the high price of milk and eggs to the unprecedented cost of gas, inflation is affecting every American. Among the largest groups affected are the 78 million baby boomers inching ever closer to retirement and current retirees who are experiencing soaring costs in a volatile economy.In fact, according to the Risks and Process of Retirement Survey Report, a new study from the Society of Actuaries (SOA), inflation is the top retirement concern.

Older workers without other health care insurance options are more likely to defer retirement to stay covered under their employer's plan, according to an analysis by Watson Wyatt Worldwide, a global consulting firm. Other factors, such as whether an employee has a pension, also contribute to decisions on when to retire.

While half of Americans don't think it's possible for a middle income family to retire, the gap between men and women's sentiments on the subject continues to widen, according to a new survey by Country Financial.

The American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA) opposes legislation in Connecticut that would create a state 401(k) plan for small businesses. Michael E. Callahan, a past ASPPA president and founder of Pentec, one of the largest pension firms in the state, said legislators should not kill a robust 401(k) system in Connecticut by creating an expensive state bureaucracy. "A free and competitive market is the best system for 401(k) plans in Connecticut or any other state," Callahan said.

Throw conventional wisdom and industry fault lines out the window. Financial services firms, insurers, and healthcare payers admit they will need to add new capabilities as they prepare to serve baby boomers, who will control some $40 trillion in retirement assets by 2020.Boomers, who make up the wealthiest generation in history, face tremendous uncertainties about how they will fund their retirement, and how wealthy they will be during those years.

Americans age 50 and over are increasingly disregarding age 65 as the time to stop working.

Most retirement-minded Americans might not see the connection between physical fitness and retirement planning - except for the fact that both can make them sweat! Ben Stein, spokesperson for National Retirement Planning Week 2007, November 12-17, believes that an approach similar to physical fitness can also be applied to financial fitness.

Bowing to requests from law firms and others, the Treasury has announced that the deadline for implementing the new 409A regulations for nonqualified deferred compensation plans has been extended for a year, until December 31, 2008. Section 409A provides certain requirements applicable to nonqualified deferred compensation plans.

Continuing its crackdown on financial fraud against senior citizens, the Securities and Exchange Commission has filed an emergency action to shut down a $25 million Ponzi scheme that victimized hundreds of senior and other investors nationwide who bought fractional ownership interests in life insurance policies.The SEC asked a federal district court in Sacramento, CA, to grant the SEC's request for an order temporarily prohibiting further sales of the products, freezing the assets, and appointing a receiver to take control of operations in order to manage and preserve remaining investor fun