Some people have not recovered from economic losses caused by the pandemic and need help from employers, retirement plan providers and other sources to build a financial cushion.
Many affluent retirees reluctant to draw down savings
Some leading retirement experts are questioning whether advisers should rethink their assumptions about retirement spending when creating financial plans.
April 19, 2021 3 MINS
While most working Americans worry about not having saved enough for retirement, many of financial advisers’ retired clients are reluctant to spend their accumulated savings. That has prompted some leading retirement income experts to question whether advisers should rethink their assumptions about spending when creating financial plans.
A new study from the Employee Benefit Research Institute finds great diversity in the way people live in retirement based on their financial status, retirement goals, demographics and spending habits. Following a survey of 2,000 retired households between ages 62 and 75 with less than $1 million in assets conducted in September, EBRI identified five retirement profiles: Average Retirees, Afflue
Liz Weston: Will you really run out of money in retirement?
Liz Weston
Many U.S. households retire without enough money to maintain their pre-retirement standard of living. Once retired, though, people often reduce their spending enough to make their money last, according to a recent study by David Blanchett, head of retirement research at Morningstar, and Warren Cormier, executive director of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association’s Retirement Research Center.
“People are finding a way to make it work,” Blanchett says.
The findings challenge a common financial planning assumption that retirees’ spending will increase at the rate of inflation each year. But the research also indicates many people retire without a realistic understanding of how much they can safely spend.