Are You Really Ready for Retirement?

Jul 27, 2015 | Retirement

With the average life expectancy increasing, and health care costs continuing to rise, the average worker might be ill-equipped for retirement. For one thing, we will all spend more years in retirement than our parents and grandparents did. Once you add in health care expenses and inflation, many Americans are understandably nervous about retirement. We will all have to live for longer, on less money!

LIMRA’s Secure Retirement Institute recently released a report which details both good and bad points on the state of retirement in America.

● Half of baby boomers have saved less than $100,000 for retirement
● More than one-third of baby boomers have saved less than $25,000 for retirement
● Of those already retired, 49 percent had to retire earlier than expected. In the majority of cases this was due to unforeseen health problems.
● 9 out of 10 annuity owners are confident about their retirement plans, and 4 out of 5 annuity owners feel that their annuity meets their financial needs.
● 8 out of 10 consumers feel that their financial advisor helped them achieve goals they would not have reached on their own.

So what can we all learn from this report? First, if you’re among the many baby boomers with inadequate retirement savings, you should start thinking about finding other forms of income once you retire. As you can see from the many satisfied annuity owners who answered the poll, annuities are a popular way to achieve a secure income.

Also, don’t assume that you will be able to work until your expected retirement date. It’s great to have a plan, but drafting a back-up plan is also important. Take care of your health, consider disability income insurance, and save as much as you can while you’re still working.

And finally, remember to seek the advice of a financial advisor. As you can see from the LIMRA study, working with a financial advisor is one of the best ways to come up with a creative and stable retirement plan.

14642 – 2015/6/30

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