I recently read a fascinating survey conducted this summer by Age Wave in collaboration with Charles Schwab. Age Wage surveyed four generations to explore the future of retirement, emerging new ambitions, lifestyles in later life, dreams about retirement and asked what help was needed from our institutions.
The four generations surveyed were: the Silent Generation (ages 63 to 83), the Baby Boomers (ages 44 to 62), Generation X (ages 32 to 43) and Generation Y (ages 21 to 31).
Cross generationally the results were both exciting and sobering:
- Survey respondents were almost twice as likely to say retirement is an opportunity for a new, exciting chapter in life as to say it is a time to rest and relax. Some 60 percent say they would like to work in an entirely different field in retirement.
- Many today realize they may need to support family members on all sides: parents, children and even siblings. Four in 10 anticipate they will need to financially support their parents. One in four worry they will have to financially support their siblings.
- Overall, the generations are clearly divided on whether this new life stage is about “me” or “we.” Fifty-five percent say they want to focus on their own needs and interests in retirement, while 45 percent view it as a time to give back to family and community.
- With each succeeding generation, a pronounced mind shift from dependence on entitlements toward financial self-reliance is emerging. Generation Y anticipates 61percent of their retirement funds will come from their personal savings and investments – twice as much as for the Silent Generation.
- The biggest concern about retirement security is having adequate funds to pay for big healthcare bills and 76 percent of adults surveyed feel the sheer size of the baby-boom generation poses a major looming problem for the nation’s retirement system.
- When asked if they plan to work in retirement, the largest percentage of adults (71 percent) said they plan to work in some fashion in later life. Forty percent of those said they would prefer to cycle back and forth between periods of work and leisure, which is a new style of work not currently aligned with corporate America.
- Surveyed workers said that, after retiring from a first or primary career, they would prefer to alternate between periods of work and leisure and the second highest percentages said they would work part time (26 percent) or never want to work again (29 percent).
*To learn more about the landmark results from the Charles Schwab Rethinking Retirement Study, please visit rethinkingretirement.schwab.com.
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I am an aspiring screenwriter. I have been trying to change careers for the past 10 years from journalism to screenwriting. I've made a lot of progress, but I picked a difficult field to transition to. Still, it's fun and I hope to make it.
Posted by: Rhea | January 10, 2009 at 09:23 AM