PLANADVISER - July/August 2017 - 15

VOLATILITY, RETIREMENT TOP OF MIND
Americans equally concerned about both
AMERICANS worry almost as much
about short-term market volatility as
they do about achieving their long-term
retirement goals, Franklin Templeton
Investments found in its 2017 Retirement
Income Strategies and Expectations
Survey. Forty-seven percent are
concerned about short-term volatility
and 53% about their retirement goals.
Volatility concerns men more than
women (51% vs. 44%) while for women,
long-term retirement goals are top of
mind (56% vs. 49%).
Of the generations, Generation X
is the least concerned about volaRetirement
Outlook
47%
Concerned
about
short-term
volatility
53%
Worried
about not
achieving
retirement
goals
Source: Franklin Templeton Investments
62%
Consider
household
members
when thinking
about
retirement
40%
Know how
much their
401(k) plan
will generate
in income
53%
Would be
willing to
retire later if
necessary
tility-39% say they pay attention to it.
Franklin Templeton says it is surprising
that 47% of Millennials, who have the
longest time horizon for investing, are
worried about volatility and that 53%
are concerned they will fail to achieve
their retirement goals.
" The 24-hour news cycle contributes
to a preoccupation with the short term, "
says Michael Doshier, vice president of
retirement marketing at the firm.
Sixty-two percent of respondents
overall said they consider other household
members when thinking about
retirement, and this jumps to 84% if
the person is married or living with
a partner. Among those with a child
under age 18, 16% expect that saving
for his education will delay their retirement.
Seventeen percent of working
Americans with such a child are looking
for college-savings-related tools.
Thirty-two percent of Baby Boomers
and 31% of the Silent Generation said
their 401(k) retirement plan savings
is their primary source of income in
retirement.
Eighty-one percent of those who
have worked with an adviser said they
are confident in their ability to invest for
retirement, compared with 53% of those
without an adviser. Among the former
group, 95% said the adviser is integral
to developing a plan to generate retirement
income. Only 40% of those who
invest in a 401(k) plan know how much
it will generate in income during their
retirement. That is a rather remarkable
finding, as 60% of men and 47%
of women said they have a strategy to
generate income for a retirement that
could last 30 to 40 years. -Lee Barney
DERAILING WOMEN'S RETIREMENT
Divorce may create a financial crisis
THE LATEST update of Allianz Life Insurance
of North America's ongoing study
" Women, Money and Power " suggests
the majority of women who went
through a divorce feel
it
" created a
personal financial crisis. "
In fact, a strong majority (64%)
indicated as much. Nearly an equal
percentage (59%) noted that losing
their spouse due to divorce was a real
" wake-up call " for them, from a financial
standpoint.
" Although fewer widowed respondents
(43%) said losing their spouse
due to ... death created a financial
crisis, a full 60% felt [that] the loss ...
served as a financial wake-up call, " the
study notes.
Interestingly, these responses came
despite the fact that the majority of
women in the study (51%) claimed
they are the " chief financial officer " of
their household. The findings are also
somewhat surprising, given that more
than two-thirds of women said they
currently feel
financially secure, with
that number rising to 73% for married
women. Evidently, married couples rely
on each other significantly for financial
peace of mind.
" It's clear that no matter how
confident women feel about their
current financial situation and ability
to manage money,
divorce
or becoming a widow can create
turmoil
and/
that has lasting effects, "
observes Allianz Life Senior Director
of Consumer Insights Deb Repya. " It's
important that women play an active
role in every aspect of their family's
financial planning. "
More than one-third (34%) of
women in the study identified running
out of money in retirement as their top
concern. -Rebecca Moore
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PLANADVISER - July/August 2017

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