Eighty-one percent of today’s seniors doubt if the next generation will be able to retire comfortably. That’s according to data from a recent survey from American Advisors Group. The Modern Retirement Survey was conducted Dec. 8 and included 1,580 participants nationwide, ages 60 to 75.
“Traditional financial strategies no longer guarantee a comfortable retirement, and that has many Americans worried about how their children will fund their future,” AAG Chief Marketing Officer Martin Lenoir said.
Many survey participants said that retirement has become more difficult since the previous generation left the workforce; 39% of the older adults surveyed said they believe their generation had a more difficult time being able to retire comfortably than the preceding generation.
Inflation is a prime concern for retirees (66%), according to poll results. They worry that inflation will affect their plans to retire comfortably. In addition, 53% said they are finding that the cost of living is higher in retirement than they expected. Thirty-nine percent also worry that they will outlive their retirement savings, and 37% said they need to increase their cash flow to live comfortably in retirement.
“Not only is life more expensive for today’s seniors, but more than a third of them have less money than they planned to have at this point in their lives,” according to the report.
Divorced and widowed women, especially, feel the sting of a higher cost of living more than they expected. More than 70% of the divorced and widowed women included in the survey expressed concerns about the effects inflation will have on their retirement. Forty-four percent of those women said they do not have the amount of money they planned to have to retire comfortably. One in three divorced or widowed older women taking the survey said they believe they will run out of money during their retirement years; half said they will need to increase their cash flow.
“More than a third of modern retirees do not feel that their employer did enough to help them obtain the retirement they worked for,” AAG reported.
Also, approximately 20% of the respondents said that the pandemic has had a negative effect on their plans to retire comfortably.
