Americans Lack Retirement Savings Confidence

December 2, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - When asked about their personal financial situation, almost half (46%) of respondents to a new survey said they are very confident.

However, almost the same percentage (43%) indicated they are very concerned about their financial situation, according to The Allianz Consumer Confidence Survey. A press release said respondents showed even more concern about their retirement savings situation (58%).

In addition, according to a press release, 52% of those surveyed said they are very concerned about becoming ill or needing long-term care.

Changing Investment Strategies

Americans’ lack of confidence on economic issues is reflected in their changing investment strategies, Allianz said in the press release. More than half of survey respondents (54%) said they plan to keep a greater amount of their cash reserves in their banking accounts in the next 12 months.

Fifteen percent of survey respondents said they plan to invest more strongly in life insurance/annuities, and 17% plan to increase their investments in stocks.

The Allianz Consumer Confidence Survey found Americans are more optimistic about their personal financial future than they are about the economic direction of the country. Specifically, 73% of the respondents said they feel either rather bad or very bad about the overall situation in the U.S. in the next 12 months, 19% feel neither good nor bad about it, and only 17% feel either very good or rather good, Allianz said.

Just 11% and 15% of respondents, respectively, of the East North Central and West North Central regions, said they feel either very confident or rather confident about the overall situation in the U.S. in the next 12 months. Twenty-two percent of the respondents from the Pacific region indicated the same.

When asked about the general economic situation, 83% of respondents said they are either very concerned or rather concerned. Eighty percent feel the same way about international financial markets, and 79% feel similarly about the security of jobs.

The study, conducted in October and November 2008, was based on telephone interviews with 1,000 respondents that are age 18 years and older living in the continental United States.

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