Race and Retirement: Who’s Saving the Most, Least? (Forbes)

A new study, Retirement Revealed, from ING U.S. examines how cultural environment can affect one’s financial situation and behavior. The study highlights the differences between Asians, African Americans and Hispanics (as compared to an overall set of 4,000+ U.S. respondents), when it comes to retirement saving, planning and preparedness. ING’s research showed that Hispanics feel the least prepared, with 54% indicating that they feel “not very” or “not at all” prepared. Other ethnicities face other challenges: African-Americans are most likely to have a formal investment plan (32%), but struggle heavily with debt. Asian-Americans have saved the most for retirement (an average of $81,000 in employer-sponsored retirement plans), but are least likely to have a last will and testament in place (only 26% do). Whites are mostly likely to have a will in place (37% do), but least likely to have a formal investment plan (28%).