Only a Quarter of Americans Are Very Confident About Retirement, Reveals New Consumer Retirement Index from Lincoln Financial Group and CivicScience

Index measures how working-age Americans feel about being able to retire when they choose and having enough money to live comfortably for the rest of their lives

This month, and in conjunction with National Retirement Planning Week (April 8-12), Lincoln Financial Group LNC is unveiling its Consumer Retirement Index – a tool designed in partnership with CivicScience that measures current American sentiment on retirement.

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Only a quarter of Americans are very confident about retirement, reveals new Consumer Retirement Index from Lincoln Financial Group and CivicScience. (Graphic: Business Wire)

Based on measurements from the first quarter of 2019, the Lincoln Financial Group & CivicScience Consumer Retirement Index shows only 25 percent of U.S. adults are very confident about retirement.¹

The Index assesses how Americans feel about retirement based on three monthly tracking questions, each of which measures an aspect of consumer confidence in retirement:

1. Being able to accumulate enough money to retire when they want
2. Being able to convert savings into retirement income that will last for their lifetime
3. Having enough money to maintain their lifestyle in retirement

"The Consumer Retirement Index takes into account that multiple factors can influence someone's sense of confidence about their retirement," said Jamie Ohl, executive vice president, president of Retirement Plan Services, Lincoln Financial Group. "Having just one area ‘covered' simply isn't enough. Americans today are living longer than ever, and life can be full of unexpected events. By focusing on these three areas — savings, protection and income — Americans can increase their levels of retirement confidence. Our hope is that this quarterly Index will demonstrate how Americans feel, and where improvements can be made."

National Retirement Planning Week is the perfect time for Americans to focus on becoming more confident about their retirement, by taking these four steps:

Step 1: Save for the future

Many employers offer benefits that can help employees prepare for tomorrow, whether it's saving for retirement through an employer-sponsored plan like a 401(k) or protecting their income from the unexpected with insurance coverages like disability, critical illness and accident insurance.

More than 6 in 10 retirement plan participants understand that they should be saving at least 10 percent of their salary to stay on track, and 43 percent believe they need to save 15 percent or more – which aligns with general industry recommendations. However, only 42 percent of savers are saving at least as much as they think is necessary – so savers should consider increasing their contribution to their employer-sponsored retirement plan and continue increasing it every year.²

Step 2: Turn savings into income

Lincoln's research shows that as investors age and get closer to retirement, their focus on investment growth and ensuring their income will last through retirement increases. Almost two-thirds of Americans over 45 years old indicate that retirement income is part of their financial plan.³

More Americans are approaching and entering retirement, creating an urgent need for solutions that offer protected lifetime income and can help ensure a more secure financial future. Annuities can play an important role in offering savers the potential to grow and safeguard a portion of their savings from market ups and downs, while also helping to provide a greater certainty about their income in retirement.

Step 3: Keep protection in mind

It's just as important to protect against unforeseen events – more than one in two people turning 65 are expected to need some form of long-term care support and services in their lifetime.⁴

Today there are many different types of long-term care funding solutions available in the market that can help mitigate the costs of care events, including hybrid life insurance/long-term care products and riders that can be added to annuity and life insurance products.

Lincoln offers an interactive map detailing the costs of the various types of care in each state at www.WhatCareCosts.com. Visitors can use sponsor code "Lincoln" to access this important information.

Step 4: Start with a conversation

Meeting with a financial professional can be a simple first step in the planning process, and helps savers identify the benefits of the many solutions available in the marketplace.

New research from Lincoln on financial planning shows investors who work with an advisor are more likely to have a financial plan, have significantly higher levels of familiarity with planning and investing, and a greater willingness to assume some level of risk to achieve better returns.⁵

More information about the Consumer Retirement Index and quarterly Index measurements can be found on Lincoln's website.

About Lincoln Financial Group

Lincoln Financial Group provides advice and solutions that help empower people to take charge of their financial lives with confidence and optimism. Today, more than 17 million customers trust our retirement, insurance and wealth protection expertise to help address their lifestyle, savings and income goals, as well as to guard against long-term care expenses. Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, Lincoln Financial Group is the marketing name for Lincoln National Corporation LNC and its affiliates. The company had $238 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2018. Lincoln Financial Group is a committed corporate citizen included on major sustainability indices, including the Dow Jones Sustainability Index North America and FTSE4Good. Additionally, Lincoln is dedicated to upholding a diverse and inclusive organization and was recognized by Forbes as one of the Best Large Employers, Best Employers for Diversity, and Best Employers for Women, and received a perfect score of 100 percent in 2018 on both the Corporate Equality Index and Disability Equality Index. Learn more at: www.LincolnFinancial.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Sign up for email alerts at http://newsroom.LFG.com.

About CivicScience

CivicScience provides strategic insight services to decision-makers at the largest brands, media companies, and investment firms in the world while giving consumers a trusted, convenient way to affect change. Through a proprietary polling and analytics platform, CivicScience studies consumers and markets across thousands of dimensions, from macro forces to brand-specific trends, and how they relate. For more information, visit CivicScience or follow them on Twitter @CivicScience https://twitter.com/civicscience.

¹ Lincoln Financial & CivicScience Consumer Retirement Index. Data gathered by CivicScience: 1/4/2019 – 3/12/2019.

² 2019 Lincoln Retirement Power® Participant Study.

³ Lincoln Financial Group, Consumer Perspectives on Financial Planning and Advisor Satisfaction, 2019.

⁴ Department of Health and Human Services

⁵ Lincoln Financial Group, Consumer Perspectives on Financial Planning and Advisor Satisfaction, 2019.

LCN-2488074-040319

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