Nearly two-thirds (60 per cent) of global defined contribution pension plan members say they’re thinking differently about retirement amid rising inflation, according to a new survey by MFS Investment Management.
The survey, which polled roughly 4,000 global DC plan members, found workers younger than age 45 were more likely to say they’ll need to save more for retirement than older workers (76 per cent and 65 per cent, respectively) and work longer (58 per cent and 53 per cent, respectively), despite having more time to course correct for negative market impacts.
Three-quarters (75 per cent) of plan members said they need to save more for retirement than they originally thought, while 66 per cent said they aren’t confident they’ll be able to retire at the age they want and 32 per cent said they won’t be able to retire at all.
Read: U.S. gen X workers falling short of retirement savings targets: report
Among U.S. respondents, nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) said their retirement won’t bring an end to employment and, instead, they’re planning to work reduced hours or move to a different job.
U.S. respondents across all generations said they have competing priorities and feel those financial obligations can get in the way of saving adequately for retirement. This sentiment is most pronounced among U.S. millennials (89 per cent), who said they’re also saving for emergencies (41 per cent), education (28 per cent) and student loan payments (25 per cent). A quarter (26 per cent) of millennials said they’re living paycheque to paycheque.
“The uncertainties and disruptions over the past few years have clearly affected workplace savers, who are now less sure about when retirement will come, what it will look like and how they should prepare for it,” said Jeri Savage, lead retirement strategist at MFS, in a press release. “Plan sponsors and advisors have an opportunity to educate workers on the benefits of staying invested as well as how to get back on track and stay on track.”