#Middlebury #SeniorNewsLine #Retirement
by Matilda Charles
Think you have your retirement financial planning well in hand? Well, a new study shows you might be in for a rude surprise when the time comes. The American College New York Life Center for Retirement Income commissioned a survey of retirement income planning, and the results are disturbing. Only 35 percent of men passed the quiz; only 18 percent of women were able to.
The quiz covered a dozen different categories, and judging by the results, the topic of annuity products in retirement was the most difficult.
Women equaled men in the Medicare insurance planning section, with both getting 76 percent of answers correct. Women also bested men (just barely, at 38 percent versus 35 percent) in paying for long-term-care expenses.
The survey found the most glaring problem is that while many women know they’re not knowledgeable about retirement income planning, the majority still believe they’ll have enough money to live on. Why is that? Are women secretly depending on men to be on top of financial planning, answering on the quiz that they make joint decisions, while the men replied that they (the men) were actually the ones in charge?
There is one ray of hope in the survey: The majority of women believe that it’s important for their financial adviser to educate them … while a minority of men responded that way.
Ladies, we live longer. If anyone should be more concerned about having enough money for a long retirement, it’s us. At the very least, we should know what our monthly retirement budget looks like.
To see how you do on the retirement quiz, go online to retirement.theamericancollege.edu. Scroll down to the red box on the lower right. There are 38 questions. After you take the quiz, you can check your answers.
(c) 2017 King Features Synd. Inc.
