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Assessing your readiness for retirement

How do you compare with our survey respondents when it comes to your retirement planning and goals?

To gauge retirement fitness, Wells Fargo surveyed Americans aged 25–75 with household investable assets of $100,000.1 Take the quiz below to see how your attitude toward and readiness for retirement compares with theirs.

Next steps toward retirement readiness
Whether you feel confident about being able to retire comfortably or have some nervousness about being fully prepared for your retirement years, taking proactive steps to prepare for retirement can improve your readiness. This might mean putting more aside every month, delaying your retirement, or thinking about what kind of work you might be prepared to do, either full- or part-time, during your retirement years. Also consider that despite some skepticism, the stock market remained the preferred choice for investments among survey respondents. Revisit your retirement portfolio and rebalance as necessary to make sure your investments are in line with your goals.

Retirement quiz
1. How confident are you that you'll have enough money saved for retirement?
Confident
Somewhat confident
Not confident
Survey results
Three-quarters of survey respondents reported that they are confident they'll have enough saved for retirement. Close to one-quarter said they are not confident. Among the top factors most likely to contribute to confidence were having a financial plan, having confidence in the stock market, and having $250,000 or more in investable assets.
2. Do you plan to work in retirement? If yes, which of the following best describes your situation?
I will need to work to maintain my lifestyle in retirement.
I will need to work to make ends meet.
I will work because I want to.
I'm not sure.
Survey results
The majority of respondents expect to retire on their own terms—working in retirement for personal interest or fully retiring by not working at all. Close to half of those aged 25–49 (48%) indicate they will work during their retirement years because they want to, compared with one-third of those aged 50–75 (33%).
3. Which do you feel is more important, having a specific amount of money saved for retirement or retiring at a certain age?
Having a specific amount of money
Retiring at a certain age
Survey results
About three-quarters of the non-retired respondents think that having a specific amount of money saved for retirement is more important than retiring at a specific age.
4. Do you believe that you need to significantly cut back spending today in order to have enough money throughout your retirement?
Strongly agree
Agree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Not sure
Survey results
This sentiment is highest among those with investable assets between $100,000 and $250,000 (48%) and those who are not confident in the stock market as a place for retirement investments (43%).
5. At what age do you plan to start taking Social Security payments?
55-64
65-74
75 or older
Never
Not sure
Survey results
A large percentage of those with access to a 401(k) and those aged 40–59 expect to take Social Security payments at age 66. More than one in 10 living in the western U.S. (15%) and those with investable assets between $100,000 and $250,000 (12%) are not sure when they will take Social Security payments.

1 Source: 2011 Wells Fargo Retirement telephone survey, with Harris Interactive

 

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