Most Folks in Retirement Years Are Clueless About Retirement Needs
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iStock/Thinkstock(BRYN MAWR, Pa.) — If you think most people in their 60s and 70s pretty much know all there is to know about the financial aspects of retirement planning, you would be wrong.
That’s according to the American College of Financial Services in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, which found that only 20 percent of 1,000 people ages 60-75 with at least $100,000 in assets managed to pass a retirement income literacy exam.
With so few people knowing what to do to live comfortably during their golden years, it leaves many at the mercy of financial advisers who may or may not have their best interests in mind.
What’s more, the ACFS report found that just 25 percent of the people who took the test have a written financial plan while others never bothered to determine how much money they’ll need in investments and savings to live securely.
In other disturbing findings, just three in ten understood that $4,000 is the maximum annual withdrawal from a $100,000 retirement account to stretch it out for 30 years.
Over half also underestimated how long a 65-year-old man is expected to live while just 54 percent knew that it’s best not to touch Social Security until one turns 70 if the expectancy is living until 90.
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