Half of Pre-Retirees Are Anxious About Saving Enough: Allianz

“While it’s a positive that [chasers] are actively saving for retirement, the level of anxiety is concerning and many are simply not aware of potential solutions to help them catch up,” Paul Kelash, vice president of consumer insights for Allianz Life, said in a statement.

The survey found that chasers had a mean retirement portfolio of more than $400,000, but still struggled to keep up with their retirement savings goals. They may need more education about financial products, Allianz Life said.

Fifty-four percent of chasers said they had too many other current expenses, and one in five said they were saving for other financial goals. As a result, two-thirds expressed fear they would run out of money in retirement, and 61% expected to keep working instead of retiring.

The survey also found that chasers owned fewer financial products than non-chasers:

• 53% had an IRA vs. 70% of confident savers
• 35% owned individual stocks vs. 56%
• 35% owned mutual funds vs. 51%
• 37% had a pension vs. 53%
• 14% owned an annuity vs. 28%

Allianz Life said that although the fastest way to accumulate funds may be to take on more investment risk, only 34% of chasers agreed that the only way to save enough for a comfortable retirement is “to invest in high risk/high reward financial products.”

Instead, 84% of chasers said they were interested in a financial product that offered growth potential with some protection from loss, and 71% were willing to give up some upside growth potential to have some protection from losses.

“Although chasers will likely need to be more aggressive in order to catch up on their retirement savings goals, they still need to maintain some focus on protection because they are closer to retirement,” Kelash said. “A financial professional can help them determine the right mix of financial products.”

But only 39% of chasers said they were currently working with a financial professional, compared with 53% of their more confident counterparts.

“Working with a financial professional can help chasers understand how they could take on more risk, yet still have protection in their portfolio,” Kelash said.

— Check out Working Longer to Fund Retirement? Don’t Bank on It, Morningstar Warns on ThinkAdvisor.