By Janet Bodnar
From Kiplinger’s Personal Finance
In 2023, the Retirement Confidence Survey conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald Research recorded its biggest decline since the global financial crisis of 2008. In EBRI’s 2024 survey, retiree confidence still hadn’t fully recovered from that significant drop. But there was also some good news. Craig Copeland, director of wealth benefits research for EBRI, explains.
What’s Behind the Numbers
In this year’s survey, 74 percent of retirees said they are very or somewhat confident they will have enough money to live comfortably throughout retirement. That’s not a significant increase from last year, and it hasn’t returned to where it was before inflation ratcheted up in 2022. Retirees are still concerned about inflation, the increasing cost of living and potential government changes in the U.S. retirement system. Expenses for travel, entertainment, and leisure were significantly higher this year.Is There a Difference Between Men and Women?
Nearly 80 percent of men are confident in having enough money versus 70 percent of women. Married women are most confident. Divorced women, particularly those with children, are least confident because they are more likely to have spent time out of the labor force. Women who have never married are in between.There’s a difference between when workers expect to retire and when people actually quit.
Historically, workers say they expect to retire at a median age of 65. But retirees report leaving their jobs at a median age of 62. Half of those responding retired sooner than they expected, and about 40 percent of that group did so because they could afford it. But others cited reasons beyond their control, such as poor health, downsizing, or other workplace changes, or caregiving responsibilities for a spouse.
Any Other Misconceptions on the Part of Workers?
A little over half of workers expect a gradual transition to retirement, but about three-quarters of retirees quit full-stop. We’ve been talking about phased retirement for more than 20 years, but the willingness of employers to make those arrangements varies. In many professions, it’s not an option because you can’t divide one job between two people.Overall, retirees appear to be a pretty content bunch.
Retirement is more expensive than they thought, but they have the resources to pay for it and aren’t as constrained as they thought they’d be. People can adapt by cutting back on spending or trading off resources for freedom or time. They’d rather have a longer retirement with less money than retire later with more.
Does That Mean We Don’t Have a Retirement Crisis?
Many of the concerns are focused on current workers. Among older retirees, many had access to defined-benefit pension plans or have paid off their mortgages, so as a group, they’re pretty well off financially. But younger workers are faced with managing their own money in defined-contribution plans instead of getting a monthly check. Middle-to-late baby boomers are in the worst situation because they have to rely more on defined-contribution plans but haven’t had as long to build up balances as younger workers.
©2024 The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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