Retirees Share Regrets and Advice

Among retired U.S. adults, when asked to complete the sentence, “When I look back on what I might have done differently with my retirement savings, I should have..,” nearly two in five (39%) say they should have started saving earlier in their working life, according to a survey commissioned by Pentegra Retirement Services.

More than one-third (35%) say they should have saved more, and 29% say they should have paid more attention to preparing for retirement when they were younger.

Retired individuals also place importance on investing, with 13% saying they should have done each of the following: invested more aggressively, taken the time to learn more about investing, and continued working longer.

In addition, 12% say they should have delayed taking their Social Security benefits, and 10% say they should have worked for a company that offered a pension.

Among retired U.S. adults, 94% have advice about retirement to offer those younger than them, particularly stressing the importance of saving. Roughly three in five recommend those younger than them start saving earlier in their career (63%) or save more throughout their career (57%). About half (51%) say to always contribute enough to qualify for employer matching contributions, and 45% say find small ways to save more.

Just over one-quarter (26%) say to delay taking Social Security benefits for as long as possible and roughly one in five say to work with a professional financial planner (22%) or to continue working as long as possible (19%).

One in ten say to invest more aggressively (11%) or consider purchasing an annuity with some of their retirement assets to ensure you don’t run out of savings (10%). Other advice retired adults would offer to younger workers include various activities such as relocating to a less expensive area upon retirement (8%) or to take a part-time job to supplement retirement income (5%).

Among those who are retired, 79% say Social Security is a meaningful source of income for them, 59% say a pension is, and 24% report they get income from a 401(k).

More data from the 2016 Retirement Readiness Survey is here.