"Nearly two-thirds of workers anticipate the pandemic will somehow impact their path to retirement," Sri Reddy, senior vice president of Retirement and Income Solutions at Principal, said in a statement. "Uncertainty is part of life. The good news is we can take small measures to support our long-term resilience against unpredictable shocks in the future."
Principal identified some of the steps workers and retirees are taking to build that resilience. Three-quarters said they will change their financial behavior to be more cautious. Nearly half of workers (49%) and over a third of retirees (37%) said they will spend less. A third of workers and retirees say they will check in with their financial accounts more frequently.
Retirees may feel limited in their ability to save, as only 14% said they will start saving more as a result of the pandemic, compared to 37% of workers. Workers were also more concerned about debt than retirees, with 33% expecting to pay down more debt, compared to 17% of retirees.
Just 17% of respondents said they plan to meet with their financial advisor, and 6% said they will look for an advisor to work with them. Those who have an advisor are largely satisfied with them. Forty-eight percent of respondents said their advisor's communication has been excellent during the pandemic, and 28% said they don't need any more communication than they've already received.
Some topics that consumers would like more information about, though, include investment advice (59%), economic outlooks (34%) and information about their current balance or rate of return (33%).
Some other findings from the report:
- Consumers became less concerned about volatility over the third quarter, and most declined to make changes to their investments.
- Workers and retirees are concerned about their communities during the pandemic.
- Workers cited small businesses' survival among their top concerns, while retirees are worried about the safety of children, teachers and schools.
- 40% of workers and 60% of retirees have enough in their emergency savings to cover seven months of expenses.
- Consumers stressed the importance of saving early, noting this would be the top advice they would give their younger selves if they could.
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