What You Need to Know
- Only about a quarter of Americans 45 and older have saved enough for retirement, a Schroders survey found.
- Half of respondents said they didn't know how their assets were allocated.
- Only 4% of retirees said they were living the dream, while 18% were struggling.
It’s good to know that Americans have their priorities straight. A recent Schroders survey on retirement asked 1,000 respondents ages 45 to 75 about the activities they’ve done more of during the pandemic. Thirty-nine percent of them said they focused more attention on saving for the future — comparable to the share, 38%, who said they spent more time watching Netflix.
But despite this increased focus, many are still falling behind.
In the survey released Thursday, Schroders Investment Management, a global manager with $785 billion in client assets, found that while a majority of respondents worked on health and fitness (53%) and spent time with family (52%), only 29% said they developed a financial plan and only 26% were focused on their portfolio.
And though 43% said their savings rate hadn’t changed during the pandemic, only 27% of non-retired respondents said they felt “very good” or “fully on track” with retirement planning.
The survey also found only 18% of non-retired respondents ages 60 to 67 said the same, which, the survey reasons, is why only 26% of non-retirees stated they had enough saved but 60% said they did not.
Further, 62% of working respondents planned to keep working for multiple reasons: to keep busy (57%), because they enjoy their work (56%) and to cover their living expenses (53%).
Cash-Heavy Allocations
The survey also reviewed how assets for retirement were allocated, comparing the age 45-59 age group to the non-retired 60-67 age group.