Associated Press, July 30th, 2007
Nearly one-third of baby boomers ages 51 to 61 are at risk of not
having enough in savings to finance a comfortable retirement, according
to a study being released Tuesday by the Center for Retirement Research
at Boston College.
With its analysis, the center has joined the national debate over
how much savings is enough — and has done so on the side that says
there’s a shortfall.
“We just don’t believe people are saving too
much,” Alicia H. Munnell, a professor of management sciences at Boston
College and director of the retirement research center, told The
Associated Press.
A recently published academic study looked at
the retirement preparedness of Americans who were in their 50s in 1992
and concluded that at least 80 percent had more than enough assets for
retirement. Other scientists have argued that Americans may be saving
too much.
The new Boston College study evaluated the same 51-61
age group, but looked at their finances in 2004, and found 32 percent
to be “at risk” for not being able to maintain their preretirement
standing of living in retirement.
The difference between the
results, the center said, has to do with changes in the financial
environment. For one thing, Americans now must wait until they’re older
than 65 to collect full Social Security benefits; meanwhile, lower
interest rates mean they’ll probably collect less on annuities and
other investments. And many of today’s workers do not have pensions
like the earlier generation but must rely on worker-funded 401(k)
retirement accounts, the center said.
