Investors grappling with today's economic environment are feeling increased pressure on their retirement plans and are facing more uncertainty about when they will be able to retire, the results of a new survey suggest.
According to the Nationwide Retirement Institute’s eighth annual Advisor Authority survey, inflation has led both women (38%) and men (26%) to rethink when they can retire. The number of men and women with near-term retirement plans is extremely low; just 2% of men and 1% of women plan to retire within the next five years. Women (44%) are more likely than men (28%) to agree that signs of inflation and recession have made them rethink where they can retire.
In addition, most investors who are not retired indicate that they are “terrified” about their long-term and post-retirement financial futures (51%), with nearly half (43%) checking their retirement account balances more than three times a week as of late. The survey found that this practice is more common among women than men (53% versus 34%), even though men are “slightly more likely” to say they are terrified about their long-term financial futures than women at 55% versus 49%, respectively.
“As the holiday season approaches, it may be best to take a break from obsessively checking retirement balances," notes Eric Henderson, President of Nationwide Annuity. “This can create self-induced anxiety which can lead to short-sighted, emotional decisions.”
Confidence Contrasts
The angst generated by economic uncertainty is manifesting differently among men and women investors who are not retired. Even though men (45%) are more likely to say that they are nervous about their post-retirement financial future than women (38%), women are nearly twice as likely to say their retirement expectations will change significantly if the U.S. economy enters a significant downturn (37% versus 19%).
At the same time, however, women are slightly more likely to say they are taking steps to adjust their retirement portfolio in light of recent market volatility (35% versus 26% men). Nationwide observes that this proactiveness may help explain why 41% of women agree that they feel confident in their financial plan despite market volatility, compared to just 11% of men.
Men not yet in retirement are also a bit more likely to say they are “very nervous” about spending down their retirement savings in the current market environment than their female counterparts (43% versus 38%, respectively). And although less than a quarter (24%) of all investors preparing for retirement say they currently have enough guaranteed income in their retirement portfolio to weather a recession, non-retired women are much more likely to say they have enough income in their retirement portfolio to survive a recession (38% versus 13% of men).
The survey was conducted online within the U.S. by the Harris Poll on behalf of Nationwide Advisory Solutions from July 27–Aug. 16, 2022, among 506 financial advisors and 521 adult investors with $10,000 or more in investable assets.
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