Can You Pass This Retirement Test?

Can You Pass This Retirement Test? Last week I found an interesting quiz in the Wall Street Journal titled "Measuring Your Retirement IQ." I have included a few of the questions from this quiz for you in this blog post. Can you answer these questions correctly? 1. Among households age 50-plus, how much money is held in a typical retirement account? a. $90,000 b. $140,000 c. $190,000 d. $240,000 ANSWER: A. The median balance was $89,300 as of Sept 30, according to the Urban Institute. Given that a typical household age 50 to 59 with a retirement account has annual income of $95,000, those savings are "not enough to replace one year's pre-retirement income," the institute notes. 2. What percentage of surveyed workers age 45-plus said they stopped contributing to their retirement savings in the past year? a. 10% b. 15% c. 20% d. 25% ANSWER: C. One in five workers surveyed last month said they stopped putting money into a 401(k), individual retirement account or related savings plans, according to a report published recently by AARP. 3. What percentage of the surveyed workers age 45 and older said that - based on recent changes in the economy - they have considered delaying retirement? a. 24% b. 34% c. 44% d. 54% ANSWER: B. One-third of workers surveyed last month have considered postponing retirement, according to AARP. Women are more likely than men -40% vs. 29% to be weighing that step. 4. What percentage of surveyed workers age 45 and older think they are currently saving enough for retirement? a. 36% b. 46% c. 56% d. 66% ANSWER: A. Only about one-third of workers think their savings plans for retirement are on track, according to the AARP. Fifty-eight percent said they aren't saving enough, and 6% said they didn't know or declined to answer. 5. Among workers age 65-plus, what percentage work full time? a. 26% b. 36% c. 46% d. 56% ANSWER: D. From 1995 to 2007, the number of older workers on full-time schedules nearly doubled, while the number working part time rose just 19%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As a result, "full-timers now account for a majority among older workers, 56% in 2007, up from 44% in 1995." 6. The median weekly earnings of full-time workers age 65-plus in 2007 were: a. $605 b. $705 c. $805 d. $905 ANSWER: A. That compares with median weekly earnings of $695 for all workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Do the answers to these 6 questions scare you? Ponder this test until my next blog post... Rob Minton P.S. You can see the complete quiz in the Wall Street Journal dated Saturday, October 18th, 2008.