The need for the reverse mortgage product years down the road will be great if Americans are not, can not or will not save money for retirement. A number of studies in recent months expresses the doubts that many current working people have regarding financing their retirement years.
For example, the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies said its 12th annual survey said nearly 40% respondents plan to work considerably past 65 or never even retire. Over half plan to work even after they officially retire, with 44% of those stating it will be because they have to.
The problem: 70% believe they will not have enough money saved when they reach 65 to retire. By income bracket, 80% of those with household incomes under $50,000 agree with that statement, while 74% with incomes between $50,000 and $100,000 and 59% with incomes over $100,000 agree.
Furthermore, 44% said they lack a plan to reach their financial goals for retirement.
An American Institute of Certified Public Accountants survey said 55% of respondents do not know how much they need to save to retire.
Jordan Amin, chairman of the National CPA Financial Literacy Commission, said, "Americans don't know how to prepare for their twilight years, and many have put off figuring it out because they're struggling to make ends meet now."
The Employee Benefit Research Institute's Retirement Confidence Survey said just 13% of American workers are "very confident" of a comfortable retirement. This ties for the lowest point ever measured. At the other end of the scale, 27% are "not at all confident" about retirement, up five percentage points from the 2010 survey.
“To me, these are positive findings: People are increasingly recognizing the level of savings realistically needed for a comfortable retirement. We know from previous surveys that far too many people had false confidence in the past,” said Jack VanDerhei, EBRI research director and co-author of the report.
“People’s expectations need to come closer to reality so they will save more and delay retirement until it is financially feasible.”
