The Possibility of Outliving Your Money

One of the increasingly big concerns among Baby Boomers is outliving their money.

According to a new survey from Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America, more than 90 percent of Baby Boomers see the U.S. as facing a retirement crisis, yet a large number of those individuals have a limited means of how much money they will require and fear they will outlive their income.

The study, Reclaiming the Future: Challenging Retirement Income Perceptions, was conducted in May 2010 with more than 3,200 Baby Boomers ranging in age from 44 to 75. Although 61 percent of Boomers fear outliving their money in retirement more than death, nearly one third (31 percent) says they are not too clear regarding what their expenses will be in retirement and 36 percent claim no idea if their income will last.

"These results are troubling not only because people are fearful about retirement income, but also because of how little they know about how much money they'll need,' said Gary Bhojwani, president and CEO of Allianz Life. "We hope that our Reclaiming the Future study will shed some light on the issue and inspire Boomers to take control of their retirement planning today.'

According to many of those surveyed, their retirement lifestyle needs to surpass their parents (79 percent), showing a need to zero in on income in retirement as opposed to accumulation of assets.

Those asked how much yearly income will be necessary in retirement indicated a median figure of $59,000 per year. Unfortunately, Boomers were not on course by a factor of close to three times too small when estimating how much they'd be required to save to form that household income.

As the survey notes, it is very straightforward that this level of planning results in no more than a guessing game. That factor was underscored even more as Boomers were questioned which they were more apt to guess correctly - exactly how much money they'll have (or need) at the time of retirement or the number of gumballs in the jar at the local county fair.

As it turns out, just more than half (53 percent) were able to say they were confident in their ability to determine their retirement income needs - only six percent greater than those more certain regarding their gumball guessing skills.

Even though there are no easy answers regarding the retirement issue, the study did unveil some reasons to be optimistic.

Consumers should remember that they do have options in planning for when their working days are over in a manner that addresses decreased sources of income, the longevity risk, along with market volatility.

When it comes to your retirement needs, including life insurance, be sure to work with a qualified agent to put you in the best position financially.