A new survey of nearly 1,800 advisors on retirement issues conducted by Financial Advisor magazine reveals some interesting findings about how prepared advisory clients are for retirement.

FA plans to do a series of articles looking in greater detail at some of the results from FA's Retirement Planning Survey 2014. A snapshot of the results includes the following:

• Only 4 percent of advisors say most of their prospects are very realistic about their retirement savings needs.

• Nearly three-quarters of advisors say 70 percent or more of their retired clients are spending sustainably.

• In response to the stellar returns in the U.S. equity market last year, most advisors have found that their clients are willing to rebalance to maintain a diversified portfolio.

• Most clients who are working as well as retirees are more optimistic or haven't changed their view about having enough money for their lifetimes.

• Almost half of advisors (44 percent) recommend the traditional 4 percent to 5 percent annual withdrawal rate from investments for spending during retirement. The next largest group, 38 percent, adjusts the withdrawal rate each year depending on a number of factors.

• More than 75 percent of advisors are providing some health-care planning for clients.

Of course, the universe of financial advisors' clients differs dramatically from the broader U.S. population and tends to be a self-selective group of savers. "Although a recent EBRI survey projects that more than 40 percent of baby boomers and Gen Xers won't have enough money to last for their lifetimes, clients of advisors look as though they will fare far better," said Dorothy Hinchcliff, editor of fa-mag.com. "The fact that 75 percent of advisors in our survey said that their clients are spending sustainably indicates that their clients should be better-positioned for the long term."

FA's online survey of 1,766 advisors was conducted from March 11 through March 25.