Few Consumers Act On Social Security Fears

NU Online News Service, March 31, 2004, 5:35 p.m. EST – Few U.S. consumers are taking concrete actions to make up for possible problems with Social Security benefits.[@@]

Researchers at LIMRA International, Windsor, Conn., are basing that conclusion on a survey of 1,132 U.S. consumers between the ages of 35 and 64. The nonprofit research group interviewed consumers shortly after Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned that the government might have to cut Social Security benefits for future retirees to keep the system solvent.

Although 54% of the survey participants said they were "very worried" that Social Security benefits would be lower than promised, only 27% said they were trying to increase their personal savings rate because of those worries, LIMRA says.