Hispanics Are Least Prepared For Retirement, Report Finds

Hispanic Americans, the nation's fastest-growing minority group, are least prepared for retirement, according to a new ING Study that compares how different ethnic groups are planning for their financial future. These findings come in the midst of growing nationwide anxiety over retirement, as some Americans report not having enough money to retire.

While 54 percent of Hispanic respondents said they felt either "not very" or "not at all" prepared for retirement, 50 percent of black, 48 percent of white and 44 percent of Asian respondents said they felt ill-prepared.

Still, the study's findings aren't reflective of the nation as a whole. ING's subjects were all employed full-time and earning a house-hold income of $40,000 or more. As the wealth disparity between white, black and Hispanic households continues to grow, the share of minorities concerned about their financial future is likely to grow beyond what the study reports.

That said, the ING study highlighted some startling figures: "57 percent [of Hispanics] have never calculated how much money they'll need to continue their current lifestyle and 70 percent do not have a formal investment plan to reach their retirement goals."

Respondents currently contributing to an employer-sponsored retirement plan have an average of $69,000 saved in the plan, with the average higher among Asian respondents ($81,000), and lower among African-Americans ($55,000) and Hispanics ($54,000).

While 88 percent of respondents said their jobs offered an employer-sponsored retirement plan, only three-quarters contributed. According to the study: Blacks and Hispanics reported different reasons for not saving. For Hispanic respondents, information and guidance seemed to be the greatest hurdle with 57 percent saying they "expect their employer to do more to educate them about retirement options." For black respondents debt was a major obstacle preventing them from saving.

While a higher percentage of Asian respondents said they contribute to a employee retirement plan, the group of respondents reflected a "tendency to place a higher priority on lifestyle choices, such as purchasing a nice house or car, than planning for retirement."

As lawmakers debate the future of Social Security in Washington, minority groups who do not have retirement funds to fall back on will be more reliant on the social safety net. According to AARP, "84 percent of African-Americans over age 65 and 78 percent of Hispanics over age 65 have income from Social Security."

Comments

[AlanBannacheck]

04:21 AM on 02/07/2012

Before you know it we will have suicide booths for those who are guilty of not saving, whether it's their fault or not

[The ORF in Largo]

08:55 PM on 02/06/2012

Regardless of race, do not see current generation to be in a better position for retirement than those of their parents. Pensions are a thing of the past add to that lower wages and raising costs workers
are foregoing saving to meet day to day expenses. Many people owe more on plastic debt than they
have put away for retirement and will enter retirement with more debt than income sources

[garystartswithg]

11:45 PM on 02/06/2012

I am 48, and when i get my ss benefits summary i laugh -- I could retire to a remote village in Belarus with it.
Social Security is in dire need of repair, and nobody is willing to do anything about it, austerity and St Reagan and all that. My parents are both retired and my mom that never worked a day in her life gets as much as I am inline for. I don't see gen x being any better off than gen y, just a lot closer to 65.

[ynt]

03:13 PM on 02/06/2012

How can people retire with ZERO interest rates being earned on their hard earned savings? Not only is the current FED policy killing retirees and potential retirees, it is killing JOBS and the economy.

Bernank is DESTROYING the desire to consume, as he's freaking out the savers who want to retire with his absolute abomination of policies, while the non-savers and the majority who have difficulty getting credit have difficulty spending, also (given the banking sectors precarious-dead state of health).

Here is the textbook example: Mr. Smith, who is 65 years old, worked hard his whole life and retiring with enough savings that would have, in an ordinary interest rate environment, have produced an income stream from interest on his savings, that would have prompted him to spend far more freely (he may even have already have replaced his 2001 Mercury Grand Marquis by now if not for the fact he is anxious due to his meager/non-existent interest ZIRP income).

So, Mr. Smith buys no new car, hires no one to put a sunroom on his (now radically depreciated home), does not take a vacation this year, and he bought everyone a lump of coal for Christmas this year (and will do so next Christmas).

All thanks to The Bernank.

[garystartswithg]

11:50 PM on 02/06/2012

Bernanke is most concerned with his friends -- the banks. The removal of the consumer from the equation wasn't Bernanke -- it was Greenspan and everyone's favorite saint -- Reagan. They don't call it supply side economics for nothing. Perhaps its a rude wakeup call to people that have to depend on a broken system now, the workforce was broken when I entered it. Minimum wage frozen for a decade and all I could consume was rent.

[ynt]

07:24 AM on 02/07/2012

By keeping rates this low, Ben is giving the government free reign to add debt. As the debt burden increases, savers' money becomes less valuable and less safe. The asset side of bank balance sheets, be they treasuries, mortgages, whatever, steadily lose credit quality increasing the risk of default/inflation. This makes all other US assets more risky, even and perhaps especially bank assets.

I would guess that the US has been in such a dangerous situation before, but I don't think it's been anytime in the last 100 years. Certainly this is looking far worse than what happenned during the Great Depression.

I know in going through the crisis in the mid seventies most people never would consider our current situation to be of sound economic policy. Today though, we are being run over with Keyensians who think that a strong dollar policy is unnecessary.

I'm quite frankly amazed at the economic ignorance of not just Bernanke but all of the Fed governors. What is even more alarming is we have so many warning signs all over the place (Greece, Spain, Ireland, Portugal) and still this policy is embraced.

[landskroon]

04:50 AM on 02/06/2012

A failed state is what they call this. A state should be organized up to a certain degree of safety/security/health/education and wellfare. There should be schools, roads, bridges and hospitals. It seems America only invests in the Military that only fights illegal wars because there is no threat towards the USA from any country. There is the capability to find and kill a single ant on the moon, there is lack of interest for solving the problems at home.

[CSNC]

03:09 PM on 02/05/2012

"This Demographic Is Least Prepared For Retirement"

The 99% demographic.

H

[SeanN]

11:12 PM on 02/04/2012

401k plans were designed to supplement pensions, not replace them. Read "Retirement Heist" by Ellen Schultz to learn how corporate executives have been raiding pensions. More theft by the 1 %.

[OhhBoy]

09:53 PM on 02/04/2012

Just raise taxes on the rich. That seems to be the liberal response to every situation.

[margem1]

01:31 AM on 02/05/2012

It's not "raising taxes." It's restoring the traditional tax rates. Bush gave away the store. We just want it back, with fairness, to all.

[ConservativeChampion]

08:12 PM on 02/04/2012

The Left is trying to keep people down. If they don't have a lot of knowledge, money or resources, they are much more likely to vote for the Democrats party.

[Blair Epps]

11:23 AM on 02/05/2012

Untrue. So untrue. Why would you say that? If you don't have Knowledge Money or resources your more likely not to vote at all.

[EminentFate4L]

12:43 PM on 02/04/2012

"according to a new ING Study that compares how different ethnic groups are planning for their financial future."

Translation: ING see's the fastest-growing minority in America, who also happen to be very productive consumers, and sees that their paycheck has yet to of been fully exploited.

[Joe Camalari]

12:33 PM on 02/04/2012

Thankfully this will not cost the taxpayers a dime.

[spkninglsh]

11:38 AM on 02/04/2012

GOP motto: 'We will repave our highway system with the bodies of the elderly and poor'

[Raiderthree]

02:08 PM on 02/04/2012

Why don't we just use the Highway trust fund that ALL politicians like to raid?

[Schoolgirl666]

09:54 AM on 02/04/2012

Some cultures are already planning on returning to their homeland when retirement time comes. Their social security funds will provide them with a cushy retirement in Central America and India.

[frank day]

10:14 AM on 02/04/2012

Not if our dollar keeps losing value.....

[billw8017]

08:34 PM on 02/05/2012

Social Security is indexed for inflation.

[Raiderthree]

02:10 PM on 02/04/2012

Lol, anyone 50 and under "relying" on SS is a fool.

[margem1]

01:33 AM on 02/05/2012

That's what I was told 40 years ago, too. But, here we are, and I'm surviving because of SS. The chicken littles need to study history instead of selling panic and lies.

[scootercallahan1]

09:25 AM on 02/04/2012

It actually seems that by the percentages that it is pretty close between all races. All I can say is do your best to save as early as possible and work an extra job or a different job if your one job isnt cutting it. The individual needs to be responsible for their own financial future. This isn't the job of government. Let the individual make their own decisions and invest the way they see fit. It is better that way. Personal responsibility is one hell of a motivator for excellent decision making.

[frank day]

10:15 AM on 02/04/2012

All I can say for sure is that you are clueless.

[Summertown]

10:20 AM on 02/04/2012

It always boggles the mind when someone can be so head in the sand about what has happened in this country. Two jobs? Three? Just to put food on the table and a roof over their head?

We have worked hard our entire lives, that's 40 plus years. We saved, we were careful where we spent money. And then poof, the ultra rich financial heads of state decided they didn't have enough money so they gamed the system and brought it crashing down. It didn't hurt them a bit but it sure as heck hurt the rest of us living a middle class life.

[EminentFate4L]

12:54 PM on 02/04/2012

Jezz that just sounds like such a swell existence! I'll trade my America dream for yours. It is the Governments job to pay one the money they pay into SSI, and I wish you luck, if you think our current banking system, cares more about your golden years, than their salary's, or institutions, when push comes to shove.

[WeBeDoomed]

09:15 AM on 02/04/2012

> "57 percent [of Hispanics] have never calculated how much money they'll need to continue their current lifestyle and 70 percent do not have a formal investment plan to reach their retirement goals."

Where is their personal responsibility? Or is this not a politically correct question?

That should be the focus of the article rather than blaming someone or society. At least that was the culture of the people who built this country.

[NevaforLeadership]

08:20 AM on 02/04/2012

The word, "retirement," should be banished. It was invented after WW2 in the days of mega unions. Such an absurd concept, throwing people out to pasture at an arbitrary age when most of them are still extremely productive, condemning many to unnecessary poverty, let alone the massive cost to government and corporations, in addition to the cultural stigma that results.

It's an unsustainable concept. The quicker we get rid of it the better. That's not to say those who can afford and choose to retire can't be free to do so.

How on earth, as outsourcing to contractors and temporary workers grows, can people afford to retire, especially those who are struggling on minimum wages.

[goldy67]

09:24 AM on 02/04/2012

Exactly. Retirement? Why? It is ageist, outdated (in a world where people do not need to do manual labor their entire lives), encourages dependence on govt funds, leads to depression and uselessness among older people, and most of all UNREALISTIC in this economy. Before I even read this article I knew that people are not planning for retirement because they can'e even plan for next week. Paycheck to paycheck. And if there are any other funds left over...that goes to their kids for that skyrocketing scam called higher education.

[frank day]

10:17 AM on 02/04/2012

Wow!!!

You must not work in a real job.

For those that hang drywall, swing hammers, or do other physical labor,

retirement is not a choice but rather a harsh reality when their body gives out

from decades of physical abuse.

[billw8017]

08:40 PM on 02/05/2012

Social Security does not prevent people from working if they are able and wish to do so. The plain fact of the matter is that the elderly are not so able as they were when younger. It's all very well for a President to have Alzheimer's, but other jobs are more demanding.