A recent Schroders survey on retirement trends found that there is significant concern of outliving one’s assets, with 42% of people classifying themselves as being concerned or very concerned about outliving their assets and 35% of those already retired being concerned or very concerned about outliving their money. Respondents are split 50/50 between men and women and are categorized into three age cohorts: 45-59 (336 respondents), 60-69 (335 respondents) and 70+ (333 respondents).
When it comes to Social Security, the majority (67%) of all respondents do not believe that the monthly amount they receive in Social Security will be enough to live on. 39% of those who reported being already retired began taking benefits at age 62, forgoing greater monthly benefits by deferring benefits to a later age. There is an overwhelming lack of understanding surrounding Social Security benefit payouts amounts among the youngest cohort, with 52% of people ages 45-59 unsure of how much in benefits they expect to receive in retirement.
60% of respondents claim that their primary investment objective in retirement is “steady income generation.” Women lag behind men in their confidence as to when they will be able to retire, with 41% of women being unsure of when they will retire, compared with 25% of men who are unsure of when they will retire. 54% of participants do not believe that they have enough money saved for a health care emergency.
When asked where respondents receive or plan to receive investment advice, 48% of all participants stated that they do not or do not plan to seek investment help from anyone, believing they can manage their assets without professional guidance. More than half of respondents (54%) lack an understanding of how to invest in retirement, and even more concerning is that 64% of women claimed they don’t know how to invest their money, compared with 44% of men. 58% of the youngest age cohort surveyed (ages 45-59) claim they do not know how to invest their own money when planning for, or during, retirement.
You can find more insights from the survey here.