Positive Outlook Key to Successful Retirement Planning

Among the factors that determine success, “an individual’s outlook and confidence are probably most important,” said Richard Aneser, chief marketing officer at Lincoln Financial Distributors. Aneser spoke Monday during a panel discussion for National Retirement Planning Week. “People taking positive action” tend to feel more in control of their financial lives, yet fewer than half of all Baby Boomers have consulted a professional financial adviser, he said.

Referring to Lincoln’s 2011 MOOD of America Study (Measuring Optimism, Outlook and Direction), Aneser said, “Participants who are working with financial advisers tend to feel more in control of their lives.”  Lincoln found that most Americans (95%) who reported feeling in control of their lives also reported that they stay within a budget.

Aneser added that market performance, accumulations and savings are critical to the success of an individual’s retirement plan. Market risk has a direct bearing on how a person accumulates assets and people may have to reset their expectations of how they define realistic savings – yet during a boom period when interest rates were low, “expectations were probably overstated,” he noted.

For the third straight year, affluent Americans said their greatest concern was the cost of health care. “The costs can be compelling,” Aneser said, but working with an adviser always helps make participants confident they can meet challenges and take advantage of opportunities realistically.

National Retirement Planning Week runs through Friday, April 13, and is led by the National Retirement Planning Coalition. This year’s focus is on Social Security and Baby Boomers’ retirement readiness.