A study released Wednesday, August 11, by the Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) showed that boomers more than five years away from retirement were focused primarily on the need to live within a fixed income. The Consumer Financial Decisions (CFD) group of Strategic Business Insights (SBI) used Macro Monitor data gathered in the spring and summer of 2008, before the economy's near collapse that fall, but, nonetheless, during a recession and time of great concern over the future.
Households self-designated as "unretired boomers" have a pessimistic outlook on their overall retirement preparedness; 60% are afraid they will outlive whatever money they have set aside and 70% afraid they are not saving enough for the future. IRI further says that nearly half of these unretired boomers "stated that they would put most of their assets in an investment that provides guaranteed income for life, even if it pays a low return."
Cathy Weatherford, IRI president and CEO, said in a statement, "Despite its perilous state, our survey found that more than half of all unretired boomers plan to rely on Social Security for their retirement income. This is a clear indication that financial professionals, elected officials and the media all need to better educate consumers to look outside of Social Security to meet their guaranteed retirement income needs."
