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February 28, 2017 at 07:50 AM
The November elections shone a harsh light on political divisions in the U.S., but voters left and right were united in their anxiety about economic security in retirement and in their dissatisfaction with national policymakers’ inaction to address the nation’s retirement crisis, the National Institute on Retirement Security reported Tuesday.
“If we learned anything from the recent elections, it’s that Americans are beyond angry about their economic insecurity,” NIRS executive director Diane Oakley said in a statement. “So it shouldn’t be surprising that Americans — Democrats and Republicans alike — are highly anxious about economic security in retirement.”
Greenwald & Associates conducted the biennial survey as a nationwide telephone interview of 800 Americans age 25 or older in order to assess their sentiment regarding retirement and actions policymakers could take to strengthen it.
The results showed that 76% of respondents were concerned about economic conditions affecting their ability to achieve a secure retirement. For self-identified Democrats, the level of concern was at 78%, and for Republicans 76%.
These percentages compared with an overall level of 74% in the 2015 study.
Eight-eight percent of Americans interviewed agreed — and 55% strongly agreed — that the U.S. faces a retirement crisis. The findings showed that concern was high across gender, income, age and party affiliation.
To ensure a secure retirement, three-fourths of respondents said they planned to work longer and to spend less in retirement.
According to the study, a big majority of Americans view pensions favorably. Eighty-five percent of respondents said all workers should have access to a pension plan so they can be independent and self-reliant in retirement.
Nearly three-quarters said pensions did more to help workers achieve a secure retirement than 401(k) plans, and two-thirds said pensions were safer than 401(k) plans.
Eighty-seven percent of those interviewed said the average retiree does not know enough about managing investments to make retirement savings last — a key financial worry for 401(k) plan participants, NIRS said.
Calling Washington
Eighty-five percent of interviewees said Washington solons do not understand how hard it is to prepare for retirement, similar to the 87% who said this in 2015. Likewise, 86% said the country’s leaders needed to give a higher priority to ensuring that Americans have a secure retirement.
