Many Boomers to Stay Put Upon Retirement

This is a 20% increase from two years ago when Del Webb—the retirement community company of which PulteGroup is the parent company—asked the same question in the 2010 Del Webb Baby Boomer Survey.

Other findings of the PulteGroup Home Index (PGHI) survey include:

• Forty-three percent plan to retire in the same city where they currently live;

• Nineteen percent plan to retire within the same state, but a different city;

• More than one-third (35%) plan to retire in a different state;

• More than half (53%) will not take into account the proximity of their children/grandchildren when deciding where to live in retirement; and

• Thirty-two percent want to live within 20 miles of their children/grandchildren upon retirement.

The study also found fewer Boomers are delaying retirement. In the previous Del Webb survey 46% said it would take more than 10 year before they are ready to retire, compared to 14% of respondents to the PGHI survey. Sixty-one percent of respondents plan to retire in less than 10 years, including 45% who believe they will be financially prepared to retire in the same time period. Among this same group, 59% said they are either not delaying retirement or plan to retire at a younger age than originally anticipated.

“The survey results seem to defy expectations that the economic slowdown of the past five years has forced many Baby Boomers to rethink their retirement plans,” said Deborah Meyer, senior vice president of PulteGroup. “Given the significant weakness in housing over this same period, we were surprised to see that only 12% of those respondents who are delaying retirement indicated that selling their home or the current value of their home is a barrier to retirement.”

Further PGHI survey findings include:

• Thirty-two percent plan to retire in less than five years;

• Nearly half (49%) of respondents’ expected age of retirement has not changed;

• Ten percent of respondents expect to retire at a younger age than originally anticipated; and

• More than one-quarter (27%) believe they will be financially prepared to retire in less than five years.

The PulteGroup Home Index (PGHI) survey was conducted online by Russell Research from June 8 to June 11, 2012, among 500 pre-retirees ages 55 or older.