South By North Strategies, Ltd.

A Changing Retirement System

A recent report on the challenges facing Americans nearing retirement age featured the perspective of John Quinterno of South by North Strategies, Ltd.

John Quinterno of South by North Strategies, a Chapel Hill, N.C., consulting firm that studies the labor force, says the economic downturn exposed new risks in how Americans plan to support themselves in retirement. The country, he says, has switched from relying on the solid “three-legged stool” of pensions, Social Security and personal savings to a stool supported by Social Security and two wobbly legs, 401K funds and home equity.
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“We’ve run an experiment where we’ve radically changed the system we used to finance retirements from more of a social insurance model to one where individuals are responsible for their retirement,” he says. “We’ve transferred the risk from institutions to individuals, and many folks are coming up on the wrong side of the situation.”

SBN In the News: December 2011

South by North Strategies’ analyses of economic issues appeared in several media stories during the first part of December.

• The Charlotte Observer: “Charlotte region’s jobless rate falls in October”
• The News & Observer: “Triangle gains few net jobs”
• The Durham Herald-Sun: “Unemployment rate dips slightly in October”
• The Winston-Salem Journal: “Triad’s jobless rate fell in October”

SBN In The News: November 2011

South by North Strategies’ analyses of economic issues appeared in several media stories in November.

• The Associated Press: “Occupy Protests: Shop mom-and-pop on Black Friday”
  
• The News & Observer: “State’s jobless rate at 10.4 percent”
• The Charlotte Observer: “State’s jobless rate at 10.4 percent”
• The Winston-Salem Journal: “NC’s jobless rate drops for first time in eight months”
• Triangle Business Journal:  “Counties find myriad ways to pare budgets across N.C.”

SBN In The News

South by North Strateies’ analysis of the local employment numbers for September 2011 appeared in several news stories across North Carolina.

• The Durham Herald-Sun: “County’s unemployment rate down in September.”
• The Greensboro News & Record: “Joblessness is down-and up.”
• The Charlotte Observer: “County jobless rate falls to 10.3 percent”
• The Meck Deck: “Wow! Unemployment rate down in Sept….”

SBN In The News: October 2011

A variety of media outlets have featured the work of South by North Strategies so far in October:

• The News & Observer: “NC jobless rate up again”
• The Charlotte Observer: “NC jobless rate up again”
• The Winston-Salem Journal: “NC jobless rate continues to rise”
• The Triangle Business Journal: “Job cutting by governments a drag on NC”
• The Progressive Pulse: “State unemployment rate moves in the wrong direction”