Average American Feels Alone in Retirement Planning

Many Americans who don’t have an adviser think they don’t have enough money to attract an adviser, according to a survey by AARP Financial Inc.

Less than half (45%) of those surveyed are working with a professional financial adviser, and among those who are not, 49% believe financial advisers are not interested in them because they do not have enough money, according to a press release of the results.

Average Americans feel they just cannot get ahead when it comes to saving for retirement, and 67% of respondents do not know quite where to turn for help, according to the survey results. Seventy-two percent agree that no one is looking out for the average person.

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The release said more than half (59%) of the average working Americans surveyed give themselves a grade of C or worse when it comes to financially preparing for retirement, and most believe the odds are 50% or less that they will be able to retire when they want to retire.

The survey indicated average Americans could have a better plan in place for retirement. Only 22% of surveyed Americans have a formal written plan for retirement. Furthermore, 55% of those surveyed have not set their 401(k) contribution to the maximum allowed, 78% of those eligible have not made a catch-up contribution to a retirement plan.

The survey of 750 adults age 40 or older in pre-retired households was conducted by phone from August 1 to August 21 by Mathew Greenwald & Associates. Survey respondents had an annual household income between $35,000 and $100,000—which describes approximately half of all U.S. households—and had between $10,000 and $150,000 in savings and investments.

AIG Advisory Groups Put Up for Sale

American International Group (AIG), which has three broker/dealer subsidiaries, is looking for ways to unload business units in a quest to pay back the federal government.

The company announced a widespread asset sell-off in a bid to generate enough money to repay its $85-billion Federal Reserve loan and refocus the ailing insurer on its core property and casualty lines.

AIG plans to keep its U.S. property and casualty and foreign general insurance businesses and a continuing interest in its foreign life insurance operations, according to the announcement. Other than that, the company said its looking to sell the rest of its portfolio. According to published reports, the company has put up for sale its three independent broker/dealer firms: AIG Financial Advisors in Phoenix, FSC Securities Corp. in Atlanta, and Royal Alliance Associates in New York City.

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Specifically, it is “also actively at work on a number of alternatives” for its Financial Products business and its securities lending program, according to the AIG statement.

AIG’s intentions for its retirement services group were not immediately clear Friday, except for the admission in the company’s divestiture announcement that it would prefer to sell all of its U.S. life insurance operations in one piece. SunAmerica Life Insurance Co., is considered AIG’s lead retirement services company.

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