Benefits April 2, 2013

Few Have Retirement Income Goals Despite Anxiety

April 2, 2013 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Four in ten (44%) Americans polled admit their retirement savings may not last until the end of their life.
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Yet, when it comes to developing a retirement savings goal, only one-fifth (21%) of middle-income retirees and preretirees calculated a monthly retirement income goal number, and only one in ten (13%) determined a total savings goal number to reach, according to the latest study released by the Bankers Life and Casualty Company Center For A Secure Retirement (CSR).  

The CSR study finds more than half of middle-income Boomers (55%) have saved less than $100,000 for retirement. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of middle-income preretirees report some level of anxiety about retirement; one in four (28%) report being “anxious” or “very anxious.”  

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Declining health is the number one longevity concern for respondents—nearly four times the concern about inadequate retirement savings (10%) or outliving their money (9%).   

To compensate for the possibility of outliving their savings, middle-income Americans plan to: 

  • Reduce spending (63%); 
  • Get a part-time job in retirement (41%); 
  • Sell house (25%); 
  • Give less money to children/grandchildren (24%); and  
  • Do nothing (15%). 

The good news is that the majority of today’s middle-income Americans are living within their budget. According to the CSR study, seven out of ten (70%) report living comfortably within their budget; only one in ten (9%) admit to living beyond their means.    

The Bankers Life and Casualty Company Center for a Secure Retirement’s study, “Longevity Risk and Reward for Middle-Income Americans,” was conducted in November 2012 among a nationwide sample of 500 Americans ages 55 to 75 who have an annual household income of between $25,000 and $75,000 by the independent research firm The Boomer Project. The full report can be viewed at CenterForASecureRetirement.com.

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