Benefits March 15, 2011

Boomers Have Retirement Savings Regrets

March 15, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A new survey, commissioned by online investing firm Scottrade finds many Baby Boomers (born 1945-1966) have retirement savings regrets that can provide an important lesson for younger generations.
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Nearly half (46%) of Boomers didn’t start saving for retirement until age 35 or older. However, if given a second chance, the majority of Boomers (58%) would have started saving at a younger age, and nearly half (45%) would have saved more.   

According to a press release, 50% of Boomers surveyed would recommend starting to save for retirement earlier than age 25.   

Scottrade found that almost half (47%) of Boomers have $100,000 or less saved, and more than a third (37%) are concerned that they will have to work in their retirement years. Almost a quarter (23%) think they’ll still be working at age 75 or older.   

“Considering the Boomers’ plight and how easy it is to invest on your own in a very low-cost way, we would have expected to see Gen Y reacting by increasing its savings,” said Craig Hogan, director of customer intelligence at Scottrade, in the press release. “But our data shows that the vast majority – 73% – currently has less than $25,000 saved for retirement. And that number has been about the same for the past three years.” (See Majority of Gen Y not Saving for Retirement)

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