Financial Report
Results from the 25th annual Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS), show that after seven years of steady decline, Americans’ retirement confidence is beginning to show signs of recovery. Although confidence is still a long way from the historic highs seen during the survey’s 25-year history, the results show a promising future. 22% of workers now say they are very confident about having enough money to live comfortably throughout their retirement years. This result is up from 18% last year and a record low of 13% back in 2013. Despite the improvement, many Americans are still not preparing for retirement they way they should be.
The 2015 survey finds that there is a clear disparity in confidence between those who are saving already and those who are not. The RCS found that, overall, 28% of workers surveyed say they have less than $1,000 total saved for retirement. 64% without a retirement plan say they have less than $1,000 saved, compared with 9% with a plan.
The RCS is conducted by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute and Greenwald & Associates. This survey is a comprehensive study of the attitudes and behaviors of American workers and retirees toward all aspects of saving, retirement planning, and long-term financial security. The RCS contains a core set of questions that are asked annually. This provides trend data on how people’s views towards a variety of money management issues have changed over time. This is the 25th annual Retirement Confidence Survey, the longest-running survey of its kind on Americans’ attitudes about and preparation for retirement.
Luke Vandermillen, a well-known retirement security expert and Jack VanDerhei, a research director at the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute joined us to give us three tips that are critical for saving for retirement:
- Talk to a financial adviser – The survey results show that there is a big difference in the level of confidence people have if they have spoken to a financial adviser versus those who have not. Taking the time to visit with a professional about taking an inventory of where you are is a really good first step.
- Do independent research – Take a few minutes, go online and see what you should be saving for retirement. There are some really good calculators out there- a really good one is princpal.com. Just take a few minutes and determine how much you should be saving for retirement. A good rule of thumb is someone should be saving 10% over the course of their working career to set aside money to have a successful retirement.
- Set up a retirement plan, such as a 401k, where you work (if it is available to you) – Most of these plans have a matching contribution, you should take advantage of it. More and more we see those types of plans automatically enrolling employees and automatically increasing their contributions, which is a really good trend.
For more information about the survey, go to ebri.org. For more tips, calculators, and other tools to save for retirement, go to principal.com.
Do you have any other tips for saving for retirement? Comment below or mention us in a tweet!
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