Americans’ immediate money concerns impede retirement savings

Planning for the future is highly correlated with overall contentment, BlackRock's Investor Pulse survey finds.

At a time when economic anxiety is increasing, 78% of Americans in a new survey who said they had a retirement savings plan reported an overall sense of well-being, compared with 52% without one, according to BlackRock.

Sixty-nine percent of respondents said financial health had a significant influence on their well-being — on par with physical and mental health and relationships.

However, only 56% had started to save for retirement, and just 45% felt confident they would achieve what they considered their ideal retirement.

Why? Many said they were too worried about their current financial situation to think about the future. Fifty-six percent cited high cost of living, 49% health care costs and 34% rising prices as the biggest threats to their current financial health.

 

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