Retirement: Confident Enough?

The Employee Benefit Research Institute published its 2007 Retirement Confidence Survey, leading to a number of interesting observations:

• Workers are slow to adapt to a changing U.S. retirement system
• Half of workers are less confident about pension benefits
• Many workers are counting on benefits that won’t be there
• Many workers are unlikely to heed advice even if they get it
• Americans overestimate long-term care coverage
• Most savings levels are modest
• Continued ignorance about Social Security coverage

The situation isn't just bad — it's very, very bad: Almost half of workers saving for retirement report total savings and investments (not including the value of their primary residence or any defined benefit plans) of less than $25,000.

The majority of workers who have not put money aside for retirement have little in savings at all: Seven in 10 of these workers say their assets total less than $10,000.

There is an ongoing educational crisis in the American retirement industry — and both institutions and advisors must step up to the plate with new ideas and new resources.