New Study: 1 in 3 Americans Confess Stopping Retirement Savings At Least Once

WASHINGTON, May 15, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- While a whopping 94 percent of Americans give themselves a passing grade in financial literacy, 1 in 3 Americans have confessed to stopping retirement savings at least once, according to a new report from the Indexed Annuity Leadership Council (IALC).

This startling data provides the latest peek into why so many Americans are failing to prepare for retirement. 

"It is worrisome that so many Americans are confident in their financial literacy, but fail to execute the basics of retirement saving," said Jim Poolman, Executive Director of the IALC.  "Struggling to save for retirement or sifting through different financial products can feel like a big hurdle, especially for those close to retirement. To ensure you have enough money to last through your golden years, the first step is to make a plan and then consistently save. Americans looking to calculate how much they will need in retirement can use one of our free retirement calculators. "

Other key facts from the new report:

• 56 percent of Americans say their primary goal is to not outlive their income; and roughly half say they will miss having a steady paycheck the most when they retire. One solution to ensuring retirees don't outlive their savings is a Fixed Indexed Annuity (FIA), which can help provide a steady, retirement income.
• Nearly half of boomers don't know that there are financial products that deliver lifetime income.¹
• More than a quarter of Americans say they will miss their health insurance the most when they retire, which costs the average American $250,000 over their retirement.² 

For more information about FIAs, visit IALC's educational website or follow on Twitter @IALCouncil and Facebook @FIAInsights.

About the Indexed Annuity Leadership Council

The Indexed Annuity Leadership Council (IALC) brings together a consortium of life insurance companies with a commitment to providing consumers, the media, regulators and industry professionals factual information about the use of fixed indexed annuities. Namely, that these products provide a source of guaranteed income, principal protection, and interest rate stability in retirement as well as balance to any long-term financial plan. To date, IALC member companies have more than 1.3 million policies in force with more than $84 billion in assets.³

Data trends were compiled from Toluna's online panel in April 2017, among n=1,000 adults (ages 18 and over).  Figures for age, sex and region income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the census population.

¹ Data trends were compiled from the GfK's KnowledgePanel, a nationally representative sample of 6,490 Americans between April and May of 2016.
² 2015 Fidelity Study
³ Secure Retirement Institute, U.S. Individual Annuity Yearbook (2015 Data) at page 46

SOURCE Indexed Annuity Leadership Council