"If you have your health, you have everything,” according to an old saying that continues to be true for a large percentage of seniors, says a new survey by Franklin Templeton, a global investment management organization.
The top concerns for those over 65 years old are health issues, according to the "Retirement Income Strategies and Expectations" survey of 2,002 adults in the United States. Thirty-six percent named health issues as their top concern. Forty-one percent of all ages named paying for health care as their top financial concern.
Only 16 percent of those over 65 said running out of money is the top concern and 12 percent said maintaining their lifestyle is their top worry.
“In order to address the top retirement concerns so many Americans are facing, it’s imperative to incorporate health-care expense planning as part of a holistic retirement savings strategy,” said Kevin Murphy, senior vice president and head of strategic accounts for Franklin Templeton’s Defined Contribution Division – US. Murphy also leads the firms’ health savings account strategy.
The majority of Americans (68 percent) prefer to measure their investments against their goals rather than a benchmark, the survey said. “Goals-based savings especially resonates with pre-retirees, which is why it is important for financial advisors to help investors think about their future retirement-related liabilities, health-related expenses being one portion, and determine the best strategy for preparing for each specific expense bucket,” the survey said,
The bad news from the survey was that 66 percent of pre-retirees admit to being behind on saving for retirement. Fewer than half (46 percent) of respondents indicate that they have a strategy in place to generate retirement income that could last 30 years or more. Likewise, 46 percent of respondents are worried about managing their retirement income to meet their retirement expenses, according to the survey.
Seventy-one percent of those surveyed said they believe they will receive Social Security and 45 percent said they are confident they know how much of their retirement income will be replaced by Social Security.
But many are still unprepared. Only one-third of respondents said they work with a financial advisor, and 54 percent said they do not have a plan in place in the event they are no longer able to manage their own finances.