Do you need to check your retirement confidence? How confident are you that your retirement dreams will match your reality?
According to a recent survey, only 68% of workers and 74% of retirees are confident they will have enough money to live comfortably throughout retirement.¹
The good news is that while workers’ and retirees’ confidence has not yet fully recovered from the significant drop seen in 2023, majorities remain optimistic about their retirement prospects.
Perhaps contributing to this upward trend is workers’ and retirees’ increased confidence in their income. According to the U.S. Census, wage growth is now outpacing inflation growth. Americans are starting to feel this shift, as 28% of workers and 32% retirees who are confident feel that way due to their finances: stable assets and steady income.¹
However, inflation remains a top reason for Americans’ lack of confidence. Among those who do not feel confident, 31% of workers and 40% of retirees cite inflation as the reason why. Additionally, 39% of workers and 27% of retirees who are not confident feel this way due to their lack of savings.¹
How confident are you about your ability to live comfortably throughout your retirement years?
While most Americans are still worried that inflation will remain high over the next year, their fears are slowly easing as significantly fewer workers (78% vs. 86% in 2023) and retirees (72% vs. 79% in 2023) are concerned about this possibility affecting their retirement.¹
Americans’ trust in the economy is also recovering, as significantly fewer workers (71%) and retirees (59%) are concerned about a possible recession over the next year.¹
While your financial future and retirement may still seem daunting at times, there are steps you can take now to help you boost your confidence.
What’s the best way to boost confidence in your retirement plan and improve its chances of success?
Develop a Written Retirement Plan
One of the best actionable steps you can take toward a secure retirement is creating a formal written financial plan. Formal plans can help keep you on track with your retirement goals and give you peace of mind.
A new survey found that the act of writing down a plan can substantially boost your retirement confidence. Specifically, the survey indicated that 87% of people with a written plan for retirement felt confident, while only 70% of those with an informal plan expressed the same.²
Additionally, formal retirement plans appear to increase the probability of completing key retirement planning activities, such as determining your income in retirement, calculating your total assets and investments available, and estimating the years those assets and investments will last.
Despite these advantages, the survey found that only 1 in 5 Americans has a formal written retirement plan, meaning many more Americans could benefit from the process of sitting down with a financial advisor and crafting a granular approach to retirement.²
If you do not have a retirement plan in place, it’s never too late to consider creating one to help you to achieve your goals. By taking action now, you can have assurance and control over your financial future.
Don’t know where to start?
Attend one of our free FedImpact Retirement Workshops to arm you with the financial insights you need to retire ready.
After completing the workshop, you’ll get one-on-one help to develop your free FedImpact Retirement Report and start identifying where you need help.
Sources:
¹2024 Retirement Confidence Survey, EBRI and Greenwald Research
²2023 Retirement Investors Survey, LIMRA
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