Young Boomers Want Advisor Guidance: Allianz Survey

October 19, 2010 at 10:00 AM
Share & Print

People born between 1961 and 1966 worry more about their retirement than older boomers, a Tuesday report from Allianz Life found. The life insurance company surveyed Americans between ages 44 and 75 and found 97% of people in their late 40s say there is a "retirement crisis" in the United States.

With that in mind, 54% say they are "totally unprepared" for retirement. Young boomers were also more likely to say they needed to "take more control of their financial future" (47%) than older boomers (35%). More than one-quarter feel they are too financially vulnerable. They were also more likely to say they needed to "attain more certainty and financial security" by a wide margin (41% vs. 30%). Perhaps a sign of the recession's emotional affect, 84% say their money is more important to them now than it was a few years ago.

Young boomers are clearly struggling with retirement, but they present an opportunity for advisors. Less than 20% of young boomers are currently working with a financial professional and 47% said they were receptive to working with one in the future. Just 29% of the total group agreed.

Young boomers agree that advisors are helpful; 95% said it was "important" or "extremely important" for an advisor to help protect a portion of their nest eggs, and more than half say they want help planning a "stable and secure retirement."

Eighty-seven percent of young boomers want their advisors to help make sure they have guaranteed income in retirement, and income products with guarantees proved popular in the study. When asked what the most important characteristics of a retirement product were, 30% said products that create a stable standard of living in retirement; 27% said products that provide a guaranteed income stream for life; and 27% said they wanted products guaranteed not to lose value.

Young boomers were especially pleased with annuities; 80% of annuity owners said they were happy with the purchase, compared to 80% of the total group.  

When asked to rate other financial products, 82% said they were satisfied with gold and precious metals; 66% were satisfied with mutual funds, 63% with stocks, and 51% with savings bonds. CDs had the lowest satisfaction rate at 43%.

NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Related Stories

Resource Center