AAG: Retirement Difficulties to Worsen for Next Generation

The majority of older Americans (81%) don’t think the next generation will be able to retire comfortably, according to a new survey.

Additionally, over a third of say employers didn’t do enough to help them retire confirmed research carried out by American Advisors Group (AAG). Affording a comfortable retirement is challenging for modern day seniors; and statistics shows they feel the problem is going to get worse.

New data from AAG, the home equity solutions company, found that older Americans believe that affording retirement has been getting harder since the ‘silent generation’ left the workforce; and that factors such as lack of employee support and unsuccessful retirement strategies are to blame. To find out exactly how today’s seniors are feeling about their retirement, AAG conducted the Modern Retirement Survey with over 1,500 participants ages 60-75.

KEY RETIREMENT DATA

The data showed that seniors believe retirement is getting harder. Key findings reveal that:

• The overwhelming majority of older Americans believe that retirement difficulties will be worse for the next generation; 81% of seniors do not think the next generation will be able to retire comfortably.
  
• Many older workers feel that their employers failed to help them retire correctly. More than a third (37%) of retirees do not feel that their employer did enough to help them achieve the retirement they wanted.
  
• Many seniors also believe that retirement has become more difficult since the last generation left the workforce; 39% of today’s seniors believe their generation had a harder time achieving retirement than the last generation.
  
• For many Americans, a traditional retirement strategy did not create the outcome they desired. Over a quarter (28%) of America’s seniors said their retirement strategy did not work out as planned.
  
• The Covid-19 pandemic impeded retirement plans for some older Americans. Nearly one in five seniors (19%) said that the pandemic has had a negative effect on their retirement plans.

EVOLVING CONCEPT OF RETIREMENT

Commenting on the research, AAG Chief Marketing Officer Martin Lenoir, stated: “Traditional financial strategies no longer guarantee a comfortable retirement; and that has many Americans worried about how their children will fund their future. Seniors are beginning to retire the old ways of thinking when it comes to their post-work life and are using alternative methods to fund their later years; such as utilising their home equity. The concept of retirement has evolved; and seniors now see their home equity as a financial tool that can help secure a comfortable lifestyle.”

Click here to read the full results of AAG’s Modern Retirement Survey.

Did you know that nearly one in three older workers plan to work past 70; or actually never retire? Click here to find out more.