Pre-retirees expect to fund their retirement differently compared to how retirees are currently affording life after work, says HSBC’s Generations and journeys report, part of their “The Future of Retirement” research study.
The report includes responses from 18,207 people in 17 countries and territories.
While 51 percent of the retirees surveyed said they currently rely on Social Security or a state pension to fund part of their retirement, only 37 percent of pre-retirees expect to do the same. Thirty-six percent of pre-retirees, meanwhile, plan to keep working to some extent after retirement, but only 14 percent of current retirees rely on their own income.
The differences don’t stop there.
In order to help fund their retirement, more pre-retirees anticipate downsizing or selling a property than current retirees who actually sold real estate to fund their retirement. And on average, pre-retirees anticipate working seven years longer than retirees, both beginning to save sooner and working longer than the current crop of retirees.
The gap between pre-retiree expectations and the reality for current retirees could mark a shift in retirement planning strategies over time, but considering the issues pre-retirees are having with saving for retirement—14 percent have yet to begin saving and 35 percent of those who have either stopped or have faced difficulties—the situation may just have to do with misinformation.
Almost a quarter of working-aged people have never received advice or information about retirement, while of the retirees and pre-retirees who sought financial advice, only 5 percent said they did not benefit from the help.
The good news is that as pre-retirees move closer to retirement—and assumedly figure things out financially—they feel more and more positively about the major life event, according to the survey.
