Survey shows guarded retirement security optimism

The study is aimed at providing policymakers, elected officials and organizations with a better understanding of attitudes and behaviors regarding retirement issues. It also was designed to assess the public’s confidence in having sufficient income to live securely and retire comfortably after leaving the work force.

The findings suggest that while tempered optimism was the predominant outlook, none of the industrialized countries have escaped concerns about retirement security in some form. Only 16 percent of those surveyed were very optimistic, although another 41 percent were at least somewhat optimistic. However, the survey also found roughly two in five, or 39 percent, were either somewhat or very pessimistic. Optimism varied based on geographic and demographic factors.

Additionally, survey respondents’ confidence in their governments’ abilities to provide benefits was alarmingly low.

“This survey should serve as an important message to political leaders to address their citizens’ concerns now rather than down the road,” said AARP CEO Bill Novelli, in a news release.

Despite the expectation of at least some government support in retirement income and health care, residents of all of the countries surveyed consistently reported a lack of confidence in the ability of their governments to provide these benefits in the future. Confidence in government ability to pay public pensions to current retirees rated only 5 on a 10-point scale. Trust in government ability to pay future benefits drops to an average of only 3.9. Trust in government delivery of retiree health care benefits today averages 4.5 and drops to 3.8 when respondents look to the future.

On the whole, respondents said they did not feel very well-informed about the things they need for a happy and successful retirement. While those surveyed expressed at least guarded optimism about their security in retirement, a surprising one in five, or around 17 percent, of respondents had given no thought at all to retirement planning. However, one in four have given it a lot of thought, with another 33 percent giving it some thought.

When asked about their expected sources of income in retirement, 42 percent of respondents said they expect public

pensions to be a major source of their income. A similar number, 39 percent, expect public pensions to be a minor source of income. These findings occur despite the current debate about financial and demographic pressures on public pension systems.

Other expected forms of income listed included earnings from employment, workplace retirement savings programs and personal savings.

“Clearly, retirement security is a shared responsibility among government, individuals, and employers,” Novelli said. “While future retirees are still somewhat optimistic, nations have an opportunity to educate their citizens about retirement security and find solutions that close the gaps between available retirement funding and future needs. In doing so, they also will increase the public’s confidence in their ability to address these issues.”

The poll was conducted for the AARP Global Aging Program by Harris Interactive between May 9 and June 2. The 10 countries polled were the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands. Interviews were representative of the demographic distribution age 30–65 in each country.

The margin of error for the survey is a little more than 1 percent for the total survey, and 5 percent for each country individually.