Retirement Confidence Plunges Among Workers 50-64

Only 44 percent of workers ages 50 to 64 said they were very confident about having enough resources to live comfortably five years into retirement, down from 63 percent in 2007, according to a Watson Wyatt Worldwide survey released Tuesday, June 2.

About 18 percent of workers in that age group believed they had sufficient resources to live comfortably 15 years into retirement, down from 34 percent in 2007, according to a news release on the survey results.

Also, 55 percent of all workers who have defined-benefit pension plans are very confident about having enough resources to live comfortably five years into retirement, while 38 percent of those with only defined-contribution plans had a similar level of confidence.

“Retirement security is a huge concern as individuals have seen significant amounts of their pension and retirement savings decline,” David Speier, Watson Wyatt senior retirement consultant, said in the news release.

The 2,232 active employees and 904 retirees were surveyed in February.

Filed by Doug Halonen of Pensions & Investments, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.