Financial advisers have known for some time that Americans have lost confidence in their ability to afford a comfortable retirement, but for confidence to plunge just as economic indicators were perking up?
That is something new, and suggests Americans are starting to realize just how serious the retirement planning picture is, according to the 2011 retirement confidence survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute.
The survey found 27% of American workers said they were not at all confident about having enough money for a comfortable retirement, up from 22%, the highest level measured in the 21 years the EBRI has done the survey. Also, only 13% of those surveyed said they were very confident they would accumulate enough to live well in retirement. The survey results were released last month.
EBRI's findings came through telephone interviews with 1,258 individuals in January. Among them, 1,004 were workers and 254 were retirees.
Financial advisers have quite a task ahead in preparing American workers for retirement: Just 42% of respondents said they, their spouse or both, have tried to calculate how much they will need to accumulate to afford a comfortable retirement.
