Pre-Retirees Expressing Retirement Confidence

However, their pre-retiree counterparts were confident about the future—only 8% expect a lower standard of living when they reach retirement, according to ING’s Retirement Income Redefined study. A majority (68%) believe they will have enough to maintain the same or more comfortable lifestyle.

Yet, more than one-third (37%) believe they are somewhat likely, likely or highly likely to eventually run out of their retirement savings. Among those without a financial adviser, the proportion worried about this is 41%.More than one-third (36%) believe $500,000 or less is enough to provide them with a comfortable level of retirement income, or they didn’t know how much they would need—fewer than those who believe more than $1 million will be required (64%).

Eighty percent of respondents acknowledged they would be willing to give up some of their spending money today in turn for some guaranteed income at a later point in life.

Working with a financial adviser greatly increased the odds that a person had calculated what their current savings would translate into in terms of a retirement income stream. Nearly nine in ten (87%) of those who worked with an adviser had made this calculation, compared to less than six in ten (59%) of those who did not work with a financial adviser.

For the most past, respondents were evenly split when it came to the importance of different retirement savings strategies. The top two priorities on people’s minds include growing savings (19%) and automatically converting savings into a guaranteed stream of income (18%). The latter strategy was most important among those with children younger than 18 in the household (24% compared with 16% overall) and those who did not work with a financial adviser (20% compared with 12% overall).

Separately, the research found a majority (70%) of those who are married or in a committed relationship had discussed the need for guaranteed income with their partners.

More information about the study is here.