A recent national survey of Americans ages 45 to 75 has some interesting insights into what actions Americans are taking regarding retirement. Some of the facts that I found most interesting were the following:
- Of pre-retirees surveyed, nearly 20 percent have spent "no time" in the past year actively planning for retirement, more than 30 percent don't know what to anticipate for health care needs, and nearly 40 percent have spent less than an hour in the past year planning for health benefits in retirement.
- Although 74 percent of respondents said they factored Social Security and Medicare benefits in their retirement plan, 77 percent are concerned about the financial issues facing these programs.
- Thirty-one percent of pre-retirees would rather clean their bathrooms or pay bills than plan for retirement.
- Thirty-six percent of pre-retirees say they spent more time on home improvements than they did planning for retirement in the past year.
- Fifty-three percent of Americans surveyed would choose health benefits, if they had a choice between receiving health benefits (paid for to supplement Medicare) or a pension in retirement.
My thoughts:
1. It's obvious that Americans are putting as much thought, time, and effort into planning for retirement as they do other parts of their financial lives. (Translation: Very little.) It's going to be a sad day for them when they get to retirement and discover they are totally unprepared. At their ages, there will be few choices to correct the situation at that point.
2. Health cares will certainly be a big (and increasing) part of retirement. That's why it's important to get into shape now. Just add it to the list of retirement planning tasks you have to do.
3. To be safe, I'm counting on nothing from Social Security.
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