HNW Investors Pay Close Attention to Inflation as They Prepare for Retirement

Sixty-eight percent say they pay close attention to inflation as they prepare for retirement.

High-net-worth investors’ perceptions about inflation rather than hard economic data have a greater influence on how they plan for retirement and spend their money today, according to the latest income investing survey by Nuveen Investments.

Seventy-six percent say they trust their personal experience with inflation rather than statistics calculated by the Department of Labor (24%). Sixty-eight percent say they pay close attention to inflation as they prepare for retirement, invest (62%) or spend money (57%).

Seventy-five percent correctly recognize that inflation is currently low, and 71% understand that retirees experience higher inflation rates than the norm. However, 60% incorrectly say that inflation is 5% or more or say they are not sure. Only 32% are near the real number of 2% to 3%.

Seventy-seven percent say the economic situation will make investment planning more complex. Eighty-six percent say they have experience high interest rates in their lifetime. Within this group, 79% of Millennials, those between the ages of 18 and 37, say they have experienced high interest rates in their lifetime.

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Asked what they think will happen to bond values when the Federal Reserve Bank increases interest rates, 40% think they will increase, 30% think they will decrease and 30% think they will either remain the same or they don’t know.

Fifty-two percent said they would make an investment change as a result of interest rate hikes.

The Harris Poll conducted the survey of 1,000 high-net-worth investors for Nuveen Investments.

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