Schwab Online Survey Offers Individuals the Chance to Compare Views on Retirement and Benchmark Against Peers and Other Generations
Release of Landmark Study by Charles Schwab and Age Wave Drives
Participation in Online Survey; Silent Generation Most Concerned About
Outliving Retirement Savings
SAN FRANCISCO--(Business Wire)--
A new online survey tool created by Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.,
has drawn almost 2,000 participants to log in and compare their
preparation for and views on retirement and wealth. The site was
opened to the public July 15, 2008, in conjunction with the launch of
its comprehensive study, "Rethinking Retirement: Four American
Generations Share Their Views on Life's Third Act."
Members of the four generations - Silent Generation (born between
1924 and 1944), Boomers (born between 1945 and 1964), Generation X
(born between 1965 and 1976) and Generation Y (born after 1976) - have
visited the site steadily since it was launched. Of the 1,642 - and
counting - online survey participants, Boomers had the highest
representation, accounting for more than 45 percent of participants,
followed by Generation X (28 percent), Generation Y (18 percent) and
the Silent Generation (10 percent).
"The 'Rethinking Retirement' study was a unique opportunity to
hear what's on the minds of four different generations as it relates
to retirement," said Andy Gill, senior vice president, investor
services. "We heard some interesting things that opened our eyes to
how Americans are truly thinking about spending their later years -
their 'third act' if you will. The launch of the online survey was
partly an effort to continue our research, but mostly a first step
toward educating the public and encouraging them to make more informed
decisions regarding their financial futures."
Lessons to be Learned From the Retired Generation
Unlike Generation X, Generation Y and Boomers who list "uncovered
medical expenses" as their greatest concern, by a significant margin
(on average over 20 percent), in their retirement, the Silent
Generation is most worried about living longer than expected and
outliving their funds.
"This finding can be a tremendous learning opportunity for the
other generations," said Gill. "The fact that members of the Silent
Generation, some already deep into their retirements, were the most
concerned about outliving their funds may lead younger generations to
pay closer attention to their savings and investing gearing up for
retirement. It's a cautionary sign that we hope will encourage other
generations to anticipate needing more money in retirement than they
may have previously believed, or at least to rethink their financial
requirements for retirement."
"Rethinking Retirement" Results Upheld
Results to date show a strong correlation with those from the
original "Rethinking Retirement" study, with tallies falling within a
few percentage points of each other. Respondents strongly believe
financial management should be a standard part of high school
curriculum. When pressed to rank the two most critical lessons in
saving and investing for parents to teach their children outside of
the classroom, all four generations of respondents rank "Live within
your means" and "Begin saving at an early age" at the top.
When it comes to opinions on the requirement for being considered
"wealthy," participants from the Silent Generation have the highest
average annual income requirement: nearly $600,000; Generation Y has
the lowest requirement: $346,100.
Visitors to the site are asked to respond to 12 questions selected
from the original "Rethinking Retirement" study. Questions elicit
opinions on retirement regarding personal finance, financial
education, the workplace, and lifestyle in retirement. A full list of
questions can be found below.
Participants are greeted with the question, "How much money do you
think you need to retire?" followed by "What year were you born?"
Users are then presented with a graph and statistical summary of how
their personal response compares to those of other members of their
respective generation. As each question is completed, their response
is compared to the total results collected in real-time. Users have
the option of viewing the survey responses of all four generations as
well.
At the conclusion of the study, participants are able to print out
their full results. Additionally, they are provided with links to a
variety of Schwab resources for retirement advice: help for
individuals through Schwab's retirement consultants, help for
employers through Schwab's Corporate and Retirement Services, and help
for independent advisors through Schwab's Institutional Services.
Full Survey
Take part in the survey at rethinkingretirement.schwab.com/survey
-- How much money do you think you need to retire?
-- What year were you born?
-- At what age would you like to retire?
-- How important is Social Security to you personally in having a
financially secure retirement?
-- What is your ideal plan for how you would like to balance work
and leisure in retirement?
-- What employer benefits would be most valuable to you to help
with your retirement savings?
-- What would be the main reason why you would continue working
in retirement?
-- Do you see retirement as a time to give back to your family
and community or a time to focus primarily on your own needs
and interests?
-- When you think about your financial security during
retirement, what are you most worried about?
-- What are the most important lessons in saving and investing
for parents to teach their children?
-- Do you believe financial management should be a standard part
of the education curriculum in high school?
-- In your opinion, what annual income makes an individual
wealthy?
For More Information
More information on the study is available at
rethinkingretirement.schwab.com along with the self comparison tool
(rethinkingretirement.schwab.com/survey) and an ongoing series of
cross-generational discussions on retirement. The comparison tool is
also available for download if you would like to integrate content of
the study to your Web site, blog or social network.
About the Study
"Rethinking Retirement" was initiated by Schwab in collaboration
with Age Wave. All data collection and analysis was conducted online
within the United States by Harris Interactive. A total of 3,866
interviews were conducted between March 28 and April 22, 2008. The
sample is representative by age, gender, race, income, investable
assets, education and region for each of the four generations studied.
An oversample was conducted by generation among the major non-White
ethnic groups (Hispanics, African Americans and Asians) to ensure
adequate representation by ethnicity across all generations. No
estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated: a full
methodology is available.
About Charles Schwab
The Charles Schwab Corporation (Nasdaq:SCHW) is a leading provider
of financial services, with more than 300 offices and 7.3 million
client brokerage accounts, 1.3 million corporate retirement plan
participants, 367,000 banking accounts, and $1.4 trillion in client
assets as of July 31, 2008. Through its operating subsidiaries, the
company provides a full range of securities brokerage, banking, money
management and financial advisory services to individual investors and
independent investment advisors. Its broker-dealer subsidiary, Charles
Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC, http://www.sipc.org), and affiliates
offer a complete range of investment services and products including
an extensive selection of mutual funds; financial planning and
investment advice; retirement plan and equity compensation plan
services; referrals to independent fee-based investment advisors; and
custodial, operational and trading support for independent, fee-based
investment advisors through its Schwab Institutional division. Charles
Schwab Bank (member FDIC) provides banking and mortgage services and
products. More information is available at www.schwab.com.
About Age Wave
Age Wave is the world's leader in market analysis and innovative
insights concerning the boomer and mature adult sectors. Drawing on
thirty+ years experience, Age Wave has developed a unique
understanding of the population's expectations, attitudes, hopes and
fears regarding retirement and maturity-related lifestyle and work
style issues. Under the leadership of Dr. Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D., Age
Wave has overseen hundreds of cutting-edge research, training, and
consulting assignments worldwide across a variety of industry sectors
including financial services, healthcare, food and beverage, retail,
travel, media, communications real estate and technology.
www.agewave.com.
About Harris Interactive(R)
Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research.
With a long and rich history in multimodal research, powered by
science and technology, Harris assists clients in achieving business
results. Harris Interactive serves clients globally through their
North American, European and Asian offices and a network of
independent market research firms. For more information, please visit
www.harrisinteractive.com.
(C) 2008 Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. All rights reserved. Member
SIPC (0808-4829)
Charles Schwab
Matt Hurwitz, 415-636-3700
Matt.hurwitz@schwab.com
or
Edelman
Jennifer McClellan, 212-704-4567
Jennifer.mcclellan@edelman.com
Copyright Business Wire 2008
