The new retirement challenge

New statistics for 2009 show most Americans believe they will not be able to afford retirement anytime soon. The annual Retirement Confidence Survey, conducted by Matthew Greenwald & Associates, found that only 13 percent of respondents feel very confident that they will enjoy a comfortable retirement, the smallest percentage since the survey began in 1993.

Respondents expect to work longer due to the economic downturn, with 28 percent of workers reporting that in 2009 they pushed back their expected retirement date. Furthermore, 89 percent of those who are delaying retirement indicated they would do so for financial reasons.

According to Robert J. Krakower, CFP and author of Redefining Retirement for a New Generation, the old model of retirement no longer applies. Krakower believes that would-be retirees must adopt new views of retirement planning if they hope to retire on time. “Forces such as increased life expectancy, the sheer size of the baby boom generation and the massive replacement of pensions with 401(k) plans, shift the risk away from the corporations, where it used to be, and onto the shoulders of individuals,” he said.