According to U.S. News Money, workers who haven’t saved enough to retire have three choices: work longer, save more, or reduce their standard of living in retirement.
When workers were given these three choices, most said they would delay retirement and continue to save rather than cut costs, according to a Center for Retirement Research at Boston College study. It covered those who had accumulated at least $50,000 in retirement savings before the downturn and had lost at least 10 percent of retirement assets at the time of the interview.
Over half said they would save more and work longer to recoup their losses. Just over a quarter said they will only work longer and 16 percent plan to exclusively ramp up their retirement savings. Only five percent of the survey respondents said they would learn to get by with less.
Previous research from Boston College found that many households actually increase their spending on the verge of retirement, especially after their children leave home. Per-person spending increases by an average of 51 percent in the years after the children move out.
Most baby boomers aren’t planning to cut costs in retirement. Only 15 percent of baby boomers turning 65 in 2011 plan to downsize to a smaller home in retirement, according to a recent AARP survey.
2 comments:
There are other options. Some boomers are very happily living in other countries where they are able to maintain their standard of living AND work less or not at all. The American lifestyle is not the best the world has to offer people who are older. So, I don't agree with the three options you suggest are the ones that are possible. There are many others.
You are absolutely right and I have done enough traveling around the world to appreciate the lifestyle. Unfortunately most, not all, but most of the U.S. population would not think of it and if they did probably not be able to afford it. Thanks for pointing this out.
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