If you are interested in statistics about the retirement readiness — or lack thereof — of consumers, I have a couple of studies you may want to peruse.
Earlier this week, Mintel released a study showing 45-54-year-olds are taking longer to come out of the recent recession, as 47% of that group (versus 33% overall) say they "have only been spending on necessities" for at least a year. And 51% of this age demographic (versus 44% overall) say they intend to permanently decrease the amount of unnecessary "stuff" they will buy in the future. Finally, about four in 10 say they worry more about retirement now than they ever have.
The report goes on to say the recession has apparently had a positive effect on savings habits for those under age 45. Forty-four percent of those aged 18-24 and 34% of those in the 35-44 age range say they intend to permanently increase the amount of money they save (versus 28% overall). Some are backing it up with actions — about 10% of 18-44-year-olds have actually increased the amount they are saving in their retirement accounts in the last year.
"We continue to see numbers indicating that the recession was a wake-up call across age groups, just in different ways," said Susan Menke, vice president and behavioral economist at Mintel. "Everyone is more concerned about having adequate funds to retire after this recession. Unlike the Baby Boomers, however, younger age groups are able to do something about it, which offers a potential opportunity for financial services firms."
Back in December, Wells Fargo released a study saying the average American has saved less than 7% of their desired retirement nest egg, and respondents aged 50-59 have saved an average of only $29,000 for retirement.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Yikes.
This study goes on to say that middle-class Americans (defined here as those aged 30-69 with $40,000 to $100,000 in household income or $25,000 to $100,000 in investable assets and those aged 25-29 with income or investable assets of $25,000 to $100,000) think they need $300,000 to fund their retirement but, on average, have only saved $20,000.
