More Americans are becoming aware of how much money they can spend during retirement to make their money last, but still not nearly enough know that crucial piece of information, says a survey by New York Life Insurance Co. released Tuesday.

Twenty-three percent of those surveyed say they know they need to limit withdrawals to less than 5 percent, an increase from 10 percent who realized that fact 10 years ago, says the study. However, that leaves 77 percent who do not realize what a safe withdrawal rate is, the survey says.

The survey included 810 Americans 40 years of age and older who have at least $100,000 in investable assets.

“There is a tremendous risk lurking in retirement – after years of doing your best to save, there is a risk of mismanaging that nest egg in retirement and running out of money,” says Dylan Huang, head of retirement solutions at New York Life. “Turning your savings into income for yourself in retirement is not easy, but the first step is knowing that anything above 5 percent is way too high.

Nineteen percent of respondents admit they do not know how much to withdraw without running out of money in retirement and 31 percent think they can spend 10 percent or more of their savings each year.  At that rate, based on historic investment returns, retirees risk running out of money in 11 years or less, while most of them will live significantly longer than that, the study says.

“In the current interest rate environment, withdrawing even 5 percent is risky for many retirees,” he adds. “The good news is that Americans have become more informed on this point, with roughly 20 percent getting it right.”

Fifty-eight percent of Americans are interested in learning about how to turn their savings into retirement income for life, up from 25 percent 10 years ago, Huang adds. Without the peace of mind that defined contribution pension plans used to provide, this generation of pre-retirees is the first that needs to turn their savings into adequate income in retirement on their own.