Confidence in Retirement Preparedness Keeps Slipping

October 22, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The latest Sun Life Financial Unretirement Index shows there is a growing concern among American workers that they have not done enough to prepare for retirement.

Nearly a quarter of respondents said they are not at all confident they have done a good job preparing for their retirement. Overall, less than one in four workers are very confident they will be able to live the kind of life they want in retirement.

The results show 40% of respondents feel they will have enough money to cover basic living expenses in retirement, compared to 42% who said so in the previous Index and 46% in the inaugural survey in the fall of 2008. The Index also found an 8% decline from last year in the number of people who say they will have enough money to pursue hobbies and interests during retirement (33% last year vs. 25% in the recent Index), and a 7% drop in the number who feel they will be able to live the kind of life they want to live in retirement (31% vs. 24%).

The percentage of Americans who have doubts Social Security will be available when they retire has risen 13% in the last year.

In addition, more than half (55%) of respondents indicated they plan to work past age 67. Eighty-four percent said they would do so to earn enough money to live well, 81% said the reason is to stay mentally engaged, and 65% said it is because they love their career. Sixty-three percent said they would work past age 67 to receive health care benefits.

Sun Life created the Unretirement Index to learn more about the reasons why Americans are choosing to continue to work full- or part-time after the age of traditional retirement (see Sun Life Tracks “Unretirement” ). The firm defines Unretirement as working at least 20 hours per week after the age when one is eligible to receive Social Security benefits.

Complete Index results are at www.unretirementindex.com .

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