Benefits August 1, 2012

Investors Suggest New Job as Retirement Strategy

August 1, 2012 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Eight in ten investors (79%) say they think retired Americans need to “reinvent” themselves–that is, look for new types of employment as a retiree–rather than work in the same field they did before retiring.
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While reinvention may be the new job strategy in retirement, there is a difference among investors regarding who expects to work during retirement years, according to the Wells Fargo-Gallup Investor and Retirement Optimism Index. More than half of non-retired investors (58%) and 10% of retired investors say they plan to work “part time” as a way of maintaining a comfortable living in retirement.    

Investors are split about the availability of jobs for retirees. Nearly half (48%) say jobs are either “easily available” (8%) or “somewhat available (40%) for retired Americans who want to work in retirement; however, about as many investors say jobs are not “much available” (42%) or “not at all available” (5%). Half of investors (48%) say the job situation facing retired Americans is worse than it is for other Americans, and nearly two in three investors say the job situation for retirees is getting worse (63%).   

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Fifty percent of non-retired investors say they have “guessed” at the savings they will need for retirement, while 48% say they have made a more thoughtful calculation. Thirty-one percent of non-retired investors say they have a specific written plan for retirement, up from 28% in May and 26% a year ago.  Thirty-five percent of retired investors say they have a written plan, down from 42% a year ago.    

Eighty-seven percent of retired and non-retired Americans say having a financial plan with specific goals and targets gives them confidence they’ll meet their financial goals, up from 78% a year ago.

While half of non-retired investors admit to guessing about retirement, when asked to evaluate the major sources of retirement funding, investors say their funds will come from the following sources:  

  • One in four (24%) of the non-retired say Social Security will be a major funding source for them in retirement, compared to 52% of retirees. 
  • Two in three (69%) of the non-retired say their 401(k) will be a major source of retirement funding, compared to 27% of the retired. 
  • Thirty-two percent (32%) of the non-retired expect pensions to be a major funding source for retirement, compared to 49% of retirees.  
  • Thirty-five percent (35%) of the non-retired call stock investments a “major source” of retirement funding, compared to 27% of the retired. 

These findings are part of the Wells Fargo-Gallup Investor and Retirement Optimism Index, which was conducted June 30 through July 11. The sampling for the Index included 1,020 investors randomly selected from across the country. 

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