Americans are feeling a little better about their retirement crisis

Healthcare costs loom large in retirement security worries. When asked what made preparing forretirement harder, 86 percent of Baby Boomers cited the rising cost of long-term care as a major factor. The next greatest obstacle cited were salaries not keeping up with wages, at about 80 percent. Fewer pensions also play a big part, according to 74 percent of Boomers, and 70 percent said greater longevity is a major factor. That view didn’t hold for the other major demographic age wave, the millennials, who obviously haven’t been poring over mortality tables like their elders. Longevity was cited by 44 percent of the younger generation as a major factor. 

Americans don’t hold out much hope that policymakers will help. The nation’s political leadership doesn’t understand how hard it is to prepare for retirement, according to 87 percent of those polled. A slightly smaller proportion felt that Washington needs to do more to help Americans achieve secure retirements. But the people taking the survey were open to other ideas, like state-sponsored low-risk automatic enrollment retirement plans for those without retirement plans at work. That was judged a good idea by 71 percent of respondents, and 75 percent said they’d consider joining such a plan. 

The poll did reveal one area where some retirees-to-be could help improve their financial security in old age. When asked whether they agreed that it was a good idea to delay taking Social Security, even if it meant tapping savings, in order to get greater benefits from the program, only 42 percent said yes. Waiting as long as possible to take Social Security can make a huge difference in one’s cash flow in retirement. And it doesn’t require Washington to do a thing.