Most Americans are aware that they will have to rely on personal savings in retirement, as Social Security benefits will be insufficient and only 21% can expect any kind of pension, according to Jackson National Life Insurance Co.
Survey results recently released by Jackson show that some 90% of consumers are very or somewhat interested in financial strategies that offer guaranteed lifetime income, but are largely unaware that annuities can provide this.
The online survey was conducted jointly by Jackson and the Insured Retirement Institute, a trade association, in mid-March among 1,000 consumers 25 or older with at least $10,000 in retirement savings, an additional 300 consumers who already had an annuity or worked with a financial professional and 400 financial professionals who had been active financial planners for two or more years at the time of the study.
Thirty-two percent of advisors in the survey reported that three or more of their clients had exhausted their investable assets, mainly through overspending or being overwhelmed by the cost of health care or long-term care.
Some 80% of advisors said guaranteed lifetime income product features have had a positive effect on their clients, and for a third, this was the most important feature of annuities.
Fifty-two percent of advisors expected some of their clients who did not own annuities to run out of money during retirement.
The survey found that even though consumers generally perceive the benefits of guaranteed lifetime income in a positive way, and 63% of advisors recommend annuities to their clients, only a quarter of respondents 45 and older planned to purchase an annuity with some portion of their retirement savings.
