Even UHNW Investors Fret About Retirement Income - Study

Tom Burroughes

18 April 2017

Some of the wealthiest citizens int the US are concerned they might fall short of the money they need to fund retirement, although many of them also appear generally optimistic, a recent survey has shown.

Spectrem, in a report called Financial Behaviors and the Investor’s Mindset, was based on surveys with investors whose household wealth ranges from $100,000 to those with a net worth of $25 million. It analyses investor attitudes about Social Security, student loan forgiveness and tax policies.

One of the most startling results was that 20 per cent of ultra-high net worth professionals and senior corporate executives are worried about having sufficient funds to retire on, and UHNW professionals also worry about being able to retire when they want to, the report found.

Among other findings, the wealthiest investors are more likely to credit factors outside of their control for their wealth creation. Among UHNW investors , 58 per cent cite being in the right place at the right time as the primary reason for their wealth.

The most wealthy investors tend to be the most optimistic. Among mass affluent investors - households with a net worth up to $1 million - slightly more than half say they are better off than they were a year ago. This, compared with 61 percent of millionaire households and fully two-thirds of UHNW investors who believe the same.

The survey found that most UHNW investors questioned said that the age for receiving full Social Security benefits should be raised, and a significant percentage would not mind seeing the age raised by several years. Additionally, more than half of all mass affluent investors believe that retirees with $300,000 or more of annual income should not receive Social Security benefits at all.