NEW YORK, Oct. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- By huge
majorities, the city's Gen-Xers and Baby Boomers think Democratic
presidential nominee Hillary
Clinton would do a better job than Republican
Donald Trump in protecting
Social Security and addressing the retirement needs of seniors.
That's the finding of a new AARP New York-Siena College survey,
which also found both generations struggling to afford basic
necessities such as food, housing and utilities, and massively
unprepared for retirement; just one in five city Gen Xers and
Boomers have planned for retirement, while two-thirds worry about
having enough money to retire.
Clinton topped Trump by 69% to 21% on protecting Social Security
and 67%-20% on retirement, according to Countdown: New York's Vanishing Middle Class.
This coming year provides a key window for elected leaders at
both the state and federal levels to help restore retirement as a
real option for New Yorkers.
"Building a financial nest egg is becoming harder, but we can
ease the middle class squeeze if our elected leaders restore trust
by helping New Yorkers help themselves save and by safeguarding the
future benefits they've earned," said Beth Finkel, State Director of AARP in
New York.
"Nearly nine out of 10 Gen Xers and Boomers say it is a problem
for New Yorkers to save enough for retirement. They should
know; they are living it," said Don
Levy, Director of the Siena
College Research Institute. "Only one in five Xers and
Boomers are living comfortably, with middle class Xers among the
most likely to struggle to get by."
Having a serious financial impact on half or more of respondents
are the cost of housing (for 75% of Gen Xers and 69% of Boomers),
food (53% Gen X, 49% Boomers), transportation (56% Gen X, 47%
Boomers), utilities (59% both), the telephone survey of 868 city
residents found.
Meantime, 52% of respondents have not researched social security
benefits; 65% have not researched Medicare benefits; 78% have not
written out a plan, including a budget, for retirement; 47% have
not discussed retirement with their life partner or family; 59%
have not made a decision about where to live; and 69% have not made
a plan for care if they should become sick or disabled.
Future health care costs present huge concerns. Only 13% of Xers
and 16% of Boomers are very prepared to pay an estimated
$476 per couple in monthly
out-of-pocket healthcare costs. And over 80% of middle class Xers
and Boomers (earning $40,000 to
$120,000 annually) are unprepared to pay more than
$50,000 a year in long-term care. Yet
a home health aide costs $52,620 annually on average, while the
average yearly cost of a New York
City nursing home exceeds $140,000.
Solutions to Help New Yorkers be Prepared for
Retirement
Among all survey respondents, 61% worry very often or often
about having enough money to maintain their standard of living in
retirement. Nearly half (46%) of respondents said government is
doing a poor job making it possible for New Yorkers to save enough
for retirement.
Independent AARP research shows over half of all 18- to
64-year-old private sector employees in New York can't get a traditional workplace
retirement savings plans such as a pension or 401(k) – and it's
worse the younger the worker, with over 60% of Millennials lacking
access.
More than four of five (82%) survey respondents support a
state-facilitated workplace retirement savings option for private
sector workers who lack access to one at their job. AARP is
advocating a professionally-managed, automatic payroll deduction
model that allows employees to opt out – since studies show over
90% of employees participate if auto-enrollment is provided.
Governor Andrew Cuomo has
launched the "NY SMART" (Saving More to Achieve Richer Tomorrows)
Commission to study lack of retirement savings and propose
solutions. Earlier this year, Mayor Bill de
Blasio and citywide leaders announced plans to push an
auto-enrollment plan for private sector workers in the city. While
the U.S. Labor Department recently finalized a rule allowing states
to proceed, a rule covering cities is still in draft form.
Meantime, while two out of five respondents expect to rely on
Social Security, more than half (54%) of Gen Xers said they're not
confident they'll receive promised Social Security benefits.
In fact, if federal leaders don't act, Social Security benefits
face a nearly 25% cut in 2034 that could cost recipients as much as
$10,000 a year. AARP is conducting a
"Take A Stand" campaign this year to press the presidential
candidates to detail their plans for updating Social Security for
the 21st Century and to press congressional candidates
to commit to working with the new administration.
AARP offers consumers resources to help them plan, including
calculators to help determine Social Security benefits, retirement
preparedness and health care needs, as well as financial workshops.
The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3%; plus or
minus 6.1% for both the Gen X sample of 408 respondents and the
Boomer sample of 460 respondents.
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/clinton-thumps-trump-on-social-security-retirement-aarpsiena-nyc-gen-x--boomer-survey-finds-300349541.html
SOURCE AARP New York