In their latest annual survey on workers’ attitudes towards retirement, the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (TCRS) found that the traditional 3-legged stool analogy for the main sources of retirement income has (likely by necessity) grown some additional legs. In addition to personal savings (i.e. non-retirement plan investments), Social Security and company pensions (the original 3 legs of the analogy), qualified retirement plans [i.e. 401(k), 403(b) and IRAs], working, inheritance and home equity are also being considered as primary income generators.
Moreover, Millennials, Gen-Xers and Baby Boomers all have varying ideas on which source will be the main one for their retirement income. Given all the doom and gloom they have heard regarding Social Security, and their own experience in workforce benefits, it’s no surprise that the youngest workers (Millennials) believe that the majority of their retirement will be self-funded (a net 55% expect their primary retirement income to come from money they’ve saved in qualified retirement plans or other savings and investments).
Another interesting tidbit, a growing percentage of workers believe that working will be a primary source of income in retirement, with younger workers (Millennials and Gen-Xers) sharing very similar responses. This is a little more evidence pointing towards a shifting definition for what retirement will look like in the future.
Source: 17th Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey of Workers, August 2016