A
new research study by Fidelity Investments indicates that many boomer
and preretirement couples are not "in sync" with regard to retirement
planning issues.
Among the findings:
41% of couples disagreed when asked whether one or both spouses would work during retirement.
Wives generally had an
accurate picture of when their husbands expected to retire, but
husbands tended to underestimate the retirement age of their wives.
37% of couples could not
agree whether their overall lifestyle would be better, worse of the
same as it is currently, with husbands indicating a more optimistic
outlook than wives.
When asked about their top
three sources of income, most respondents answered workplace savings
plans, pensions and Social Security; however 61% disagreed on which of
the three would be the primary source of retirement income.
Only 39% of husbands and 48% of wives know how to calculate a surviving spouse's Social Security income.
While only 23% of couples
reported being jointly involved in decision-making, these couples
appeared to be better-prepared and more optimistic about retirement
than other respondents.
According to
Steven P. Akin, president of Fidelity Personal Investments, previous
studies of this nature have surveyed married men and married women, but
not couples married to each other. This study looked specifically at
married couples born between 1937 and 1964 with incomes of at least
$75,000 or investable assets of at least $100,000. It compared the
answers of one spouse with the answer of the other spouse. The average
couple consisted of a man and woman who each were between 53 and 54
years old, and they were married for an average of 24 years.