The annual retirement survey conducted by Wells Fargo & Co. found that 76% of middle class Americans said it is important to have a specific amount of money saved before retirement, while only 20% said it was more important to retire at a specific age, regardless of savings.
It found that three quarters of respondents plan to work through their retirement years; 39% of all respondents said they would work because they had to, while 34% said they would work because they wanted to, not because of financial need.
Over half of the respondents said they would need to significantly reduce their current spending in order to save for retirement.
Laurie Nordquist, director of Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust, said, “For several years now, we've seen that Americans are undersaving for retirement and a majority do not trust the stock market as a place to invest for retirement. However, we did find a bright spot among middle class Americans—more than three quarters do not want to retire with mortgage debt. This is an important goal, particularly for younger Americans."
This is likely a result of the housing crisis, Wells Fargo declared. People have taken to heart the idea of retiring without mortgage debt, as 86% of respondents ages 25 to 75 say it is important to own their home debt free by retirement. And 63% of respondents said they wouldn't consider being renters in retirement.
Older generations seem less concerned about retiring without mortgage debt. While 87% of those age 25 to 29 say it is “very important” to pay off mortgage debt, only 40% of those ages 60 to 75 agreed.
