Is Outliving Retirement Savings A Fate Worse Than Death?

When faced with the prospect of outliving their money, most people might toss and turn at night or obsess about where to slash their budgets.

Others have a more extreme reaction: wishing for early death.

"I can always put a bag over my head when the money runs out" was what Jeannine Hines' husband told her when she asked what he planned to do if their cash ran out before they died.

"He would rather die than be left penniless," says Hines, a 58-year-old piano teacher from Maryville, Tennessee.

Her husband has company. A new survey from Wells Fargo shows 22 percent of people say they would rather die early than not have enough cash to live comfortably in retirement.

Other surveys bear those numbers out. One by financial-services company Allianz of people in their late 40s found 77 percent worried more about outliving their money in retirement than death itself.

Of that survey's respondents, those who are married with dependents are even more terrified, with 82 percent saying that running out of cash is a more chilling prospect than death.

"These are pretty sobering statistics," says Joe Ready, director of Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement in Charlotte, North Carolina. "It speaks to the overwhelming stress people have about money."