Retirement Related Issues

Do Americans plan to sit tight during retirement, or do they have goals and plans?  Where will the live?  How will they support themselves?  What happens if illness strikes suddenly … or lingers?  Will their kids help, or will they still be helping them?

Have they thought – really thought – about retirement at all?

Facts

The facts and figures below paint a picture of Americans and retirement. Where do you fit in? 

  • One in five Americans think the most practical way to accumulate wealth is by winning the lottery, not saving or investing.  (2005 Consumer Federation of America)
     
  • Almost half of consumers say retirement planning is harder than raising a child. (43 percent v. 38 percent. 2006 Ing Study)  
  • Nearly three out of five Americans ages 35 to 49 are saving less than $10,000 a year.   Nearly a third of Americans saved nothing for retirement last year.  (2006 Financial Services Forum Survey)
     
  • 22 percent of Boomers say they'll rely on the sale of their home for income in retirement.  (2006 Fidelity Survey)
     
  • Almost half of Americans - 46 percent - expect to fund their retirement through Social Security and pensions, and an equal number expect that their retirement funds will last them 10 to 20 years.
    (2006 Harris Interactive Poll for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)
     
  • Nearly one in four Americans, or 23 percent, has not yet begun to save for retirement.
    (2006 Harris Interactive Poll for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)
     
  • Medicare, the health insurance system for the elderly, will run out of money in 2018 -- two years sooner than predicted a year ago. Social Security will have enough cash to pay the benefits it owes retirees, disabled workers and workers' survivors until 2040 -- one year less than expected in the 2005 forecast.
    (2006  Social Security and Medicare Trustees' Report)
     
  • Nearly half (45%) of U.S. workers cash out of 401(k) plans when leaving jobs, despite the growing need for employees to save for retirement. (Hewitt Associates (NYSE: HEW)  provides of human resources outsourcing and consulting services)

The Best Retirement Tools

Below are some of the tools we recommend using when planning your retirement.

  1. Retirement Planning - Path To Investing
  2. Invest for Retirement - Path To Investing
  3. Creating a Personal Financial Plan - Path To Investing
  4. Retirement IQ Test - MSN Money
  5. Investing in Bonds

Understanding the concept of saving for retirement and understanding the concept of making it happen are two very different issues.  Take this quiz to determine if you're ready to tackle this task of planning your own retirement.

                   picture

Is America Ready for Retirement? Read the studies below to see how Americans are doing.

 

Get informed