NEW YORK, March 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Planning for retirement is something that weighs heavily on the minds of many Americans, according to a new nationwide survey conducted for TheStreet (NASDAQ: TST) by GfK1. Despite the fact that the majority of those surveyed (85%) think that they need to make sacrifices in the short term in order to save for the long-term, nearly half (44%) worry that they are not doing enough to financially plan for retirement.
"A lot has been written about retirement and how people should be saving more to live comfortably in their old age. But what people are still grappling with is whether there is such a thing as going overboard with retirement savings," said Marilen Cawad, Managing Editor for TheStreet. "It's a tough balance to strike when you want to enjoy your life now, be able to retire comfortably, and still have funds for things like your child's education or unexpected medical bills."
Despite the fact that the majority (85%) believed in sacrificing for the future, of those surveyed:
- More than half (53%) are still worried about having enough money saved for retirement.
- More than a third (38%) are not satisfied with what they're currently putting aside for retirement.
When it comes to choosing between retirement savings and education:
- 32% choose to set aside money for their children's education right now, rather than saving for retirement.
- 29% are worried about having enough to get them through college.
Starting retirement savings at a young age is extremely important, but the survey found that 18-34 year olds are a bit mixed about their priorities:
- 40% of 18-34 year olds would rather live the life they want now – having nice things and travelling – than worry about saving for retirement, as opposed to only 28% of 35-49 year olds and 26% of 50-64 year olds.
- 46% of 18-34 year olds worry that they're not doing enough to financially plan for retirement and 31% are not confident that they'll have enough money to live comfortably in retirement.
The full story from TheStreet is available online.
About the Survey
OMNITEL is a weekly national telephone omnibus service from GfK, a division of GfK Custom Research North America. The sample for this OMNITEL wave consists of 1,004 total completed interviews, of which approximately 750 consist of landline telephone exchanges and about 250 are made up of cell phone exchanges. Interviews were conducted from February 21-23, 2014. The margin of error on weighted data is + 3 percentage points for the full sample.
About TheStreet
TheStreet, Inc. (www.t.st) is the leading independent digital financial media company providing business and financial news, investing ideas and analysis to personal and institutional investors worldwide. The Company's portfolio of business and personal finance brands includes: TheStreet, RealMoney, RealMoney Pro, Stockpickr, Action Alerts PLUS, Options Profits, MainStreet and Rate-Watch. To learn more, visit www.thestreet.com. The Deal, the Company's institutional business, provides intraday coverage of mergers and acquisitions and all other changes in corporate control. To learn more, visit www.thedeal.com.
1 OMNITEL poll by GfK North America, February 2014
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