The headline “He Wants to Retire … but She Doesn’t” was one of the most popular articles in the April 9 Wall Street Journal.
What struck me most was the author’s comment that many of the people she interviewed said the issue of when to retire was a point of disagreement with their spouses or partners. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s a decision fraught with land mines. The question being asked isn’t just when to retire and where to do it, but something more fundamental—should we retire. And that question is being asked with much more frequency than I can remember.
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The latest figures are out from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) in Washington, D.C. Unsurprisingly, “retirement confidence” remains down from its peak in 2007, and is at levels similar to what we saw during the Great Recession.
What’s going on? In 2007, fully 70% of American workers were either “very” or “somewhat” confident about their retirement. By 2011, this group had fallen to 52%, a decline of 18 percentage points. Similarly, the number of workers on the negative side of confidence rose by 18 points—from 29% in 2007 to 47% in 2011. In short, we’ve moved from a 70/30 confidence/no confidence world to a 50/50 world.
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I’ve never heard this discussed by men, but some women carry the worry that they will end up old and alone, with no money and no home. It’s not generally ever-present, but rears up as reports on foreclosures, unemployment, plant closings, and law-firm and hospital layoffs proliferate in the press. It’s often termed “bag-lady syndrome”.
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This comment on Steve Utkus’ recent post about retirement struck a major chord with me:
“Our children’s incomes are not increasing, and they have their own children to support, let alone saving for their own retirement. No one is to blame or is being stingy; we simply must plan for and take charge of our own later years.”
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We were vacationing last month in Scotland. At a small country hotel—on a misty Western isle—I mentioned to a group of guests that I conduct research at Vanguard on retirement issues. You guessed it: Suddenly the conversation shifted from the weather (ever-changing in Scotland) to worries about finances and retirement security.
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