One in five working Americans now say they do not plan to retire at all, according to a survey by Sun Life Financial.
Retirement confidence levels had remained level for the past three years as measured by Sun Life’s Unretirement Index, a survey of nearly 1,500 workers. On a scale of 1 to 100, the index fell from 44 in September 2010 to 36 in September 2011.
All five subject areas covered by the poll fell this year, including employee benefits (-31.7%), the economy (-25.0%), government benefits (-21.6%), personal finances (-13.9%), and personal health (-13.2%).
Only 23% of working Americans feel very confident that they will meet basic living expenses in retirement, a huge drop from 42% last year.
Confidence in the future of Social Security fell to just 9%, continuing a steady plunge from 22% in 2008. Confidence about receiving adequate Medicare benefits has fallen to 8% from 20% in 2008.
The respondents who felt most confident about their retirement are those who expect to receive guaranteed lifetime income from annuities by age 67, or who own long-term care insurance products.
Wes Thompson, president of Sun Life Financial U.S., said in a written statement, “We believe the higher confidence of respondents across all wealth levels who own either variable annuities or long-term care insurance vehicles provides a positive wake-up call: Americans can take action to help secure their future and feel more secure about their golden years.”
Annuities explained in laymans terms is the easiest way to grasp the concept, although they still can be confusing. They are very common and useful and thus its very important to understand them.
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