One out of four Americans is worried about running out of money during retirement and the millennial generation is the most fearful of all age groups.
“Twenty-nine percent cited running out of money as their biggest concern, but Gen X’ers were not far behind, at 28 percent,”
writes Rodney A. Brooks in the Washington Post, citing a survey. “Nineteen percent of Baby Boomers have the concern and 21 percent of people 71 and older are worried.”
Covering health care expenses (19 percent) and maintaining their current lifestyles (23 percent) are the next biggest concerns.
“Not surprisingly, the age group most worried about health care expenses was baby boomers (24 percent),” Brooks says, “while the concerns about maintaining current lifestyle seemed to cross all generations: millennials, 20 percent; Gen X, 23 percent; boomers and people 71 and older, both 25 percent.”
The survey also showed that one out of four baby boomers has less than $5,000 set aside for retirement, practically ensuring a lifetime of work or a dependence on a Social Security system that critics say will run out of funds.
Jim Poolman, the executive director of the Indexed Annuity Leadership Council that conducted the retirement survey, says people need to plan ahead.
“The average couple that retired last year will need $240,000 to cover future medical expenses in retirement,” he says. “Showing people those kinds of facts can only educate them about the need to start saving now.”
Another retirement study conducted by HSBC compared American retirement with how people live their golden years in other countries,
Bloomberg News reports.
The survey found Americans on average work five more years than the global average for a total of 35 years, and that they need to save for seven more years than current retirees did.
“Pre-retirees in the U.S. are more likely than current U.S. retirees to expect future retirement income from selling property, either by downsizing or selling a primary or secondary home—17 percent vs. 10 percent,” the newswire reports. “Among the 17 countries surveyed, that compared with 26 percent for Australian pre-retirees, 9 percent for workers in Mexico, and 4 percent for pre-retirees in Egypt.”
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