Individuals should assess their current situation and make adjustments to their savings and spending sooner rather than later to prepare for retirement, Greg Burrows, senior vice president for Des Moines, Iowa-based Principal Financial Group, one of the report's underwriters, said. People should target saving 11 percent to 15 percent of their wages annually including any employer contribution, Burrows says.
A separate study released last week by T. Rowe Price Group Inc., a mutual fund firm in Baltimore, and research firm Harris Interactive found that about 60 percent of investors between age 21 and age 50 aren't confident they'll have enough money for retirement. The T. Rowe survey was conducted online in December and questioned 860 adults with at least one investment account. Investors say they expect to retire on average at age 62 and live an average of 22 years in retirement, the study found.
The government has focused on the risks of people outliving their savings in hearings and studies of its own as Americans live longer and are more responsible for managing their retirement money. The U.S. Treasury Department proposed two regulations last month to make it easier for workers to fund an annuity through their company-sponsored pensions or 401(k) accounts. Annuities are insurance contracts that guarantee a lifetime stream of income in exchange for up-front payments.
About 12 percent of the retirees surveyed by EBRI say they or their spouse had bought a financial product that pays them guaranteed income each month for the rest of their life.
The percentage of workers who are confident they will have enough money to retire comfortably is 52% in the 2012 survey, compared to 49% for 2011, which is statistically insignificant but is a dramatic drop from the 70% who were confident in 2007. Workers who said they were not at all confident dropped from 27% year to 23% this year and is a sharp increase over the 10% who expressed no confidence in 2007.
For those already retired, the confidence meter slipped slightly with 21% being very confident compared to 24%in 2011 and 19% expressing no confidence this year compared to 17% last year.The survey authors say the changes are statistically insignificant and that confidence levels are stagnant.
The biggest worry for both sets of people is being able to pay for medical expenses and long-term care in retirement. Although employees are enthusiastic about defined contribution plans sponsored by employers, they fail to save on their own if such a plan is not available. They also do not increase the amount deducted from their pay unless they are committed to doing so by their plan.
However, 20% say they would let their savings deduction go as high as 15% if it were done automatically by 1%increases per year. Another 20% say they would let it go to somewhere between10% and 14%.
"Employees are prevented from doing some things by inertia, but they want to be committed to doing something when it is in their best financial interest," says Mathew Greenwald, coauthor of the survey.
Despite their apparent uncertainty about the future, only 21% of employees and 24% of retirees report they have obtained investment advice from a financial advisor. The situation opens up opportunities for financial advisors to connect with people in the workplace.
"It is a natural, given the low usage of financial planners, that more financial advisors will find opportunities in the workplace," says Greenwald.
- Bloomberg News and Karen DeMasters