LGBTQ Retirees, Pre-Retirees Express Need To Preserve Retirement Savings Yet Take More Investment Risk Than Others, MassMutual Study Finds

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Investment Weekly News -- Compared to other retirees and pre-retirees, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning (LGBTQ) Americans are more inclined to see a need to preserve their retirement savings yet are more likely to take bigger risks when it comes to investing, according to a new study from Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. (MassMutual).

Retirees and pre-retirees who are LGBTQ are more likely to say they should become more conservative with their money as they approach retirement (42 percent) than to maintain a more aggressive investment strategy (28 percent), according to the MassMutual LGBTQ Retirement Risk Study1

( https://www.massmutual.com/~/media/files/MM%20LGBTQ%20Retire%20Risk%20Study%20Report.pdf).

Yet, 65 percent of LGBTQ respondents describe their investment mix as growth- rather than preservation-oriented compared to 52 percent of the general population; 31 percent of LGBTQ respondents acknowledge that they may be taking more risk than they should compared to 22 percent of other retirees and pre-retirees, the study finds. Meanwhile, 17 percent of both LGBTQ respondents overall and LGBTQ retirees say they want their retirement investments to significantly outperform the market compared to 13 percent of the general population overall and 9 percent of general population retirees.

"MassMutual's study shows that many LGBTQ retirees and pre-retirees may benefit from consulting a financial advisor about their retirement investment goals, something less than half currently do, and may benefit from help leading into retirement and securing their finances through retirement," said Catherine Cannon, Head of Personal Markets at MassMutual. "Of those respondents in our study who do work with a financial advisor, six in 10 say their advisor has encouraged them to change their investment mix and 87 percent of those folks were advised to become more conservative as they enter retirement."

Overall, LGBTQ pre-retirees plan to retire later than the general population and are likely to expect that their retirement income will last at least as long as needed. While retirees and pre-retirees overall expect to live 24 years in retirement, the study finds, LGBTQ respondents say they expect to spend two fewer years retired. Both the general population and LGBTQ respondents peg their retirement savings to last 25 years.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)