The vast majority of financial advisors (90%) say they feel that at least 20% of their clients don't have enough money set aside to retire at their expected income levels, says a survey of 1,305 independent financial advisors conducted by Curian Capital LLC, a Denver-based registered investment advisor.

   The annual survey, which addresses a different issue each year, also shows that 40% of advisors feel the biggest threat to their clients' retirement planning is a lack of time to build wealth. The next biggest threats are inflation (22%), stock market volatility (20%) and rising health care costs (17%).

   Among respondents, 69% say they haven't changed their clients' portfolios in the face of market volatility.

   And in one seemingly contradictory result, the survey shows 97% of respondents say retirement income planning is the most valuable asset they provide clients, and yet 55% would outsource that planning to a third-party asset manager.

   "We would expect that 55% [number] to go up and down depending on the market," says Andrew Silver, a spokesman at Curian Capital, a provider of fee-based separately managed account platforms. "The more volatility there is in the market, the more complicated retirement income planning becomes and the 55% might increase, but in a bounce-back market the planning becomes less complicated."

   Additional results from the Curian Capital annual survey will be available Aug. 4 at https://www.curian.com/RIAWeb/aboutus/pressroom/index.jsp.