February 2024

Retirement income literacy lacking among older Americans

The American College of Financial Services has unveiled the findings from its 2023 Retirement Income Literacy Study, spotlighting a significant gap in retirement knowledge among older Americans. Drawing from a survey of more than 3,765 individuals ages 50 to 75, the study found a concerning lack of knowledge, with participants garnering an average score of 31% on a retirement literacy quiz. “In the U.S., with the exception of Social Security and the comparatively small number of workers with guaranteed pensions, saving...

January 2024

UK. Privately educated adults ‘more likely to have learned about pensions at school’

People who attended a private school are more likely to say they learned about pensions at school (20%) than those who were state-educated (6%), a survey has indicated. More than two-fifths (42%) of privately educated 35 to 44-year-olds said they reviewed or reassessed their pension pot at least once a year, compared with less than a fifth (17%) of state school-educated peers of the same age. Privately educated people were also more likely to hold private pensions outside of employment-linked pensions (40%),...

December 2023

Household Financial Literacy and Retirement Planning in Rural China

By Yuting Qian, Weiqiang Tan & Jingbo Wu Rural villager’s retirement is an essential issue in China. This study investigates the level of financial literacy of rural residents and its relationship with retirement planning. In-depth survey data of rural residents in the Greater Bay Area reveal that rural residents with different demographic structures have different levels of financial literacy. The empirical study finds that financial literacy is positively related to retirement planning, and this result is robust. Further research shows...

November 2023

Baby boomers are the least likely cohort to seek financial advice: study

Professionals offering personalized financial advice have emerged as a key reverse mortgage industry referral partnership. Still, a new study illustrates that older Americans are the most reticent to seek it out according to a new study conducted by Charles Schwab. Operating from a data set consisting of 1,000 401(k) plan recipients between the ages of 21 and 70, only 62% of baby boomers indicated they would like personalized investment advice for their retirement accounts. The positive response rate increases for each successive generation:...

October 2023

Understanding Financial Vulnerability Among Asians, Blacks, and Hispanics in the United States

By Andrea Hasler, Annamaria Lusardi, Olivia S. Mitchell & Alessia Sconti The COVID-19 crisis has brought to light the deeply rooted financial struggles that many people face in America, and it also exacerbated racial inequality. In particular, minority communities have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic in many ways, making them ideal targets for efforts to promote financial well-being. This paper examines the financial vulnerability of Asians, Blacks, and Hispanics in the United States, along with potential drivers, using data...

August 2023

Helping people overcome their lack of ‘longevity literacy’

Longevity risk continues to be a hot topic for advisors, especially as their clients continue to suffer from a lack of “longevity literacy.“ The TIAA Institute and the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center at the George Washington University School of Business released data last week showing that American adults are overwhelming unaware of both their potential lifespans and the amount of money needed to cover them. Respondents were asked to identify the likelihood among 65-year-olds of living to 90 and the likelihood of...

Aging Is Trending On TikTok – Lean In To Inspire Gen Z’s Retirement Goals

Coastal grandmother and grandmillennial may be popular design trends on TikTok but getting younger generations to financially plan for those years is more of a challenge. Nearly a third of Gen Z workers are not are not saving for retirement, according to a recent Bankrate survey, and roughly the same amount report feeling behind on their planning. While the Gen Z cohort, which includes workers between the ages of 18-25, has the benefit of time to build the foundations of...

US. ‘Staggering’ Number of Adults Don’t Know How Long Retirements Last

They found that less than 40% of adults correctly identified the average lifespan at retirement age. “Longevity literacy is particularly important since retirement income security inherently involves planning, saving, and preparing for a period that is uncertain in length,” Surya Kolluri, head of the TIAA Institute, said in a statement. “Our research clearly demonstrates a lack of longevity literacy among the vast majority of U.S. adults. Improving this can promote better retirement security and mitigate longevity risk.” The researchers said there...

July 2023

The Silver Wave: China’s Rapidly Aging Population and the Rise of Elderly Education

By 2030, 1 in 6 people in the world will be aged 60 years or over. By 2050, the world’s population of people aged 60 years and older will double (2.1 billion). The number of persons aged 80 years or older is expected to triple between 2022 and 2050 to reach 600 million. China has one of the fastest-growing aging populations in the world. There were 280 million people aged 60 and above in China at the end of 2022,...

June 2023

UK. Half of DC pension savers don’t know how to access retirement pot

Almost half of defined contribution (DC) pension savers in their 50s and 60s have not considered how they will access their retirement pot, a study finds. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) research published today (30 June) finds that close to half of working-age people have at least a small amount of wealth held in DC pensions. Wealthier people are more likely to have DC pension wealth — 60% of individuals in the top tenth of the (non-pension) wealth distribution have...