"Retirees indicated they would reduce expenditures (64% now compared to 53 % in 2005), dip into money that might otherwise have gone toward an inheritance (49% now compared to 42% in 2005) or deplete all of their savings (45% compared to 35%).
"Since this question was last asked in 2005, the increase in reported prevalence of plans for retirement is encouraging; however the percentage without plans indicates that is still a long way to go," says Levering.
"Retirees who use all of their assets or accumulate debt they cannot realistically expect to repay may face major difficulty," she adds. "This can be particularly troublesome for the survivor of a couple after the spouse's death."
Retirees and pre-retirees are not just worried about health-care costs. There has been a marked increase in the number who feel inflation will have a great deal of impact on their retirement.
Of the retirees surveyed, 43% now fear inflation compared to 28% in 2007. With pre-retirees, 47% have the same fear now compared with 34% in 2007.
"Although federal policy and unemployment have worked to keep overall inflation low in the last few years, retirees feel seriously affected by increases in health-care costs, their share of these cost, and by food and energy prices," the report says.
-Karen DeMasters