Pre-Retirees Yearn For Advice

By Cyril Tuohy

InsuranceNewsNet

A new survey by Jackson National Life of pre-retirees ages 45 to 65 years old reveals the need for custom retirement strategies. That kind of demand is likely to require the expertise of an advisor.

The results are contained in the 2013 Jackson Investor Education Survey gauging the opinions, needs and financial education of men and women of pre-retirement age with more than $200,000 in investable assets.

“In the results, the surveyed investors told us loud and clear that they want help and guidance,” said Allison Pearson, assistant vice president of the national sales desk for Jackson National Life Distributors, Jackson’s distribution arm.

Nearly 44 percent of women and 42 percent of men said that having an advisor “whom they trust and really ‘gets’ them would make the most positive impact on their financial outlook,” Pearson said in a news release.

Matt Gonring, vice president of corporate communications for Jackson, said the “extreme variety” of responses in the way both genders perceive retirement issues and financial education, underscores the need for “customized strategies and creative solutions.”

Results of the survey, which polled more than 500 investors, point to very contradictory findings.

Half the men – 49.7 percent – and 35 percent of women reported having “plenty of investing confidence,” the survey also found.

Men traditionally perceive themselves to be more confident in their own investing abilities than women are in theirs. Some of those relatively high confidence levels – at least among men – may be due to the performance of the stock market.

At the same time, more than 42 percent of men and 55 percent of women also said they do not have enough financial knowledge to feel confident about making investing decisions, the survey found.

Saving enough for retirement, was the top financial concern among nearly 76 percent of men and 74 percent of women, the survey found.

With nearly 57 percent of men and women saying they are in good financial shape, more than 40 percent are still on shaky ground, the survey found. “Clearly, the surveyed investors know the task ahead of them in saving and planning for their retirement is an important one,” Pearson said.

Nearly 67 percent of men and 64 percent of women think Social Security will only provide a small supplement to their retirement income, the survey also found.

Cyril Tuohy is a writer based in Pennsylvania. He has covered the financial services industry for more than 15 years. Cyril may be reached at [email protected].

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Cyril Tuohy is a writer based in Pennsylvania. He has covered the financial services industry for more than 15 years. He can be reached at [email protected].