2021 Retirement Confidence Survey

Will your retirement dreams match your reality? This is an important question to answer for many of our clients. Given the vast uncertainty of the world we find ourselves in, it makes sense to really look in the mirror and do a reality check. Let’s start by understanding what other investors are thinking and doing when it comes to their retirement years.

 

For more than three decades, the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) has conducted the Retirement Confidence Survey, which gauges the views and attitudes of working-age and retired Americans regarding retirement and their preparations for retirement.  Part of the survey takes a deep dive into workers’ expectations for sources of income in retirement versus retirees’ actual income sources. Some highlights of the 2021 survey:

 

  • Only 33% of workers expect Social Security to be a significant source of retirement income. In reality, 62% of retirees say it’s a major source.

 

  • Further, more than 50% of workers believe that workplace retirement savings plans will be a significant source of retirement income. But the 2021 survey found that workplace plans are a major source for only 20% of retirees.

 

To some this may be surprising, but not to us.  Upon closer study we find these numbers are consistent year-after-year. Here’s another nugget to consider: 26% of workers plan to work for pay in retirement. In reality, only 7% of retirees do.

 

For most, retirement is the “next chapter” in life. It’s critical that your finances support your retirement vision, so there are no surprises when it’s your turn. Over the past +20 years we have served clients by helping them understand exactly how close they are to achieving retirement success. For more information on how we do this, schedule a call with the Infinium team HERE.

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