Americans Think Beyond Finances To Prepare for Retirement
February 22, 2017 by Christopher Robbins
Americans may be more ready for retirement than we think, according to a new survey.
A report released on Wednesday by Merrill Lynch and generational research firm Age Wave finds that people are utilizing a variety of strategies—including working part-time in retirement and cutting back on certain costs—to make it through their golden years.
This despite the fact that 81 percent of Americans say they do not know how much they will need to fund their retirement.
“One thing remains certain: Retirement is life’s most expensive purchase,” said Lorna Sabbia, Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s head of retirement and personal wealth services. “When we asked Americans what they are seeking in terms of preparation, accumulated wealth or peace of mind, people were more likely to say peace of mind—yet peace of mind is very personal. It’s more a feeling than having a specific number.”
While most studies on retirement readiness portray a widening gap between the amount Americans should be stashing away and the amount they actually save, the study, “Finances in Retirement: New Challenges, New Solutions,” suggests that pre-retirees may bridge that gap in other ways—and that Americans are often far more resilient, creative and flexible than they’re given credit for.
Three long-term trends are impacting the retirement landscape, said Sabbia: the transition of baby boomers into retirement, increasing life expectancy and real and potential declines in employer- and government-funded retirements.
Yet a defined contribution plan is the most popular entry point to retirement savings—more so than the retirement of a loved one or a landmark in their personal lives.
“The study revealed that the most common trigger for saving is having an employer who offers a retirement plan and who provides information on how to take advantage of that plan,” said Sabbia. Millennials, aged 25-39, seem to be the most responsive to the call to increase personal savings for retirement, according to Sabbia “Another positive sign,” she said.
Baby boomers and Generation Xers do not have the same luxury of time, but are willing to make trade-offs before and during retirement to ease the financial and emotional burden on their families.
For example, 91 percent of the study’s respondents said they would make healthier choices now to reduce potential expenses later in life, and 68 percent would consider purchasing long-term-care insurance.
“We know that health is considered the greatest wildcard—it’s the No. 1 key to a happy retirement, and the biggest worry,” said Ken Dychtwald, Age Wave CEO. “Physical—and fiscal—fitness turn out the be the best retirement investments.”
Americans are also willing to work longer: Three-quarters of the respondents said that they would take a part-time job after retirement to help shore up their savings; 43 percent said they would be willing to work full-time. Two-thirds of the respondents, 67 percent, said they would be open to learning new skills to be able to work in a different position or industry.
According to Dychtwald, the results show that Americans are thinking about retirement preparation as more than saving and investing.
“It wasn’t simply a matter of ‘what’s their number?’ and ‘do they have savings?’ They were imagining different ways they’d get there,” said Dychtwald. “With the aging of the baby boomers, we’re likely to see a proliferation of a range of course corrections.”
Other adjustments included cutting back on charitable donations, which 77 percent of respondents felt comfortable with, downsizing a house, acceptable to 75 percent of respondents, and moving to a less expensive location, named by 67 percent of respondents.
Even more Americans, 90 percent, said that they would be willing to cut back on their living expenses to fund a financially secure retirement, while 79 percent said they would seek out financial advice.
Twenty-four percent even said they’re considering driving for Uber or Lyft, said Dychtwald. “One in four were willing to rent out a room on a short-term basis,” he added.
Yet the statistics on retirement readiness remain grim. While most respondents say they want to live to the age of 90, 27 percent of them only feel prepared to fund 10 years of retirement.
The survey suggests U.S. pre-retirees are coming to grips with the reality that retirement is a more daunting task than it was for their parents and grandparents, a Merrill Lynch executive said.
“A high percent graded themselves low on their financial readiness,” Kevin Crain, head of workplace financial solutions for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. They also had a sense of reality about the serious course corrections they would need to make.”
Americans understand that they should be saving more, according to the survey. While most respondents believed they should save 25 percent of their annual disposable income, they reported a paltry 5.5 percent rate.
Millennials, too, were realistic about their retirement needs amid the decline in employer pensions and the questionable future of entitlement programs like Social Security. They expected that 65 percent of their retirement income would have to come from personal sources.
Respondents said that living expenses and debt were the biggest barriers to retirement saving. Half of respondents say they have no positive role models when it comes to financial planning.
Respondents struggled with low financial confidence, lacking a financial role model and confusing jargon. Respondents were seven more times likely to say that personal finances were taboo than something to be discussed openly.
“I’ve become troubled that a lot of financial firms have found it captivating to make people terrified or scared about retirement,” Dychtwald said. “What we see is that the American public is resilient. They want to have a good life. They need help, but it shouldn’t be alarmist help.”
The industry’s pessimism about retirement is filtering down to younger generations, with more than half of millennial respondents saying a secure retirement is beyond their reach, compared to 30 percent of baby boomers who felt the same.
For the report, 4,854 adults over 25 years old were surveyed by phone and 2,500 online during August and September.
