Source: | PR Newswire Association LLC |
Wordcount: | 976 |
With boomers starting to retire, their financial worries are increasing. While 44 percent are not confident that they can retire comfortably, more than half (57%) report that they lost money in a retirement plan, personal investments or real estate during the recent economic downturn. Many are delaying retirement as a result: among those who lost money in the downturn, 42 percent say that loss has delayed their retirement.
“Economic anxiety has certainly taken its toll on baby boomers. Pensions, social security and individual savings plans like 401(k) accounts aren’t secure enough to float the average boomer’s retirement boat,” said noted personal finance expert
Overall, 55 percent express at least some confidence that they will have the financial resources to live comfortably during their retirement, but only 11 percent have deep confidence that they are financially prepared.
Married boomers (61%) feel more confident that they are prepared than unmarried boomers (46%).
Among those with household incomes below
Those who rate their own financial management skills poorly are downright terrified: just 14 percent express confidence that they have the money for retirement. Nearly half (47%) of self-confessed poor financial planners have no confidence at all.
Boomers’ median retirement savings stands at
Just as startling is the boomer’s dependence on
Here’s how boomers rate those sources of income:
Social Security (65% extremely/very important)- A workplace retirement savings plan (42%)
- An employer-paid pension plan (41%)
- A personal savings account other than an IRA (35%)
- Personal investments other than a retirement account (31%)
- An IRA (31%)
- Money from the sale of your home (17%)
- Money from other family members (9%)
There are also stark differences by socio-economic status in whether boomers have even begun to save:
A narrow majority of those in households with incomes below
Among boomers without a college degree, 37 percent have saved nothing, compared with 10 percent of boomers who have college degrees.
42 percent of all non-whites have saved nothing, compared with 24 percent of whites.
“Boomers are facing one of the most daunting retirement income challenges in history,” observes Morris. “The ‘new normal’ needs to be: if I don’t change my behavior, I won’t be able to change anything. Start by saving a little bit of money from multiple places – modify cell phone plans, reduce cable channels, look for cheaper insurance, shop with coupons – rather than thinking of savings as what you put away after you take care of everything else.”
Even for those who believe they will be able to retire, this rite of passage does not necessarily equal a life of leisure. Two-thirds (67%) plan to do some sort of work for pay once they have retired from their career, with a plurality saying they will do so in order to make ends meet (35%). Twenty-nine percent plan to work in order to stay busy, 26 percent to have money for extras and 2 percent are aiming for a second career.
Methodology:
The AP-LifeGoesStrong.com Poll of the boomer generation on work and retirement was conducted
The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, which uses a probability-based design. Respondents to the survey were first selected randomly for KnowledgePanel using phone or mail survey methods, and were later interviewed for this survey online. People selected for KnowledgePanel who didn’t otherwise have access to the Internet were provided with the ability to access the Internet at no cost to them.
About LifeGoesStrong.com:
LifeGoesStrong.com (www.lifegoesstrong.com) was launched in
About the AP:
Press Contacts:
LifeGoesStrong.com
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347-683-1859
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212-621-1720
SOURCE LifeGoesStrong.com
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