enhanced consumer education, the Retirement Number Study, a survey
conducted for Netherlands bancassurer ING’s US unit in support of a
new marketing campaign, has revealed that almost anything but the
amount of money needed to retire comfortably is uppermost in the
minds of most Americans.
Indeed, in the survey undertaken by market research firm Ipsos
only 5 percent of respondents said they consider a financial
number, such as the sum they will need in retirement, as being
among those most important to them. Far more important to the
largest number of respondents was their birthday (26 percent),
someone else’s birthday (22 percent), a social security number (16
percent), a wedding anniversary (16 percent) and a phone number (13
percent).
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Also indicating the need for greater consumer education, Ipsos
reported that 49 percent of respondents said calculating how much
they should save for retirement is not easy and they are not sure
where to start.
When probed on what they should consider in order to calculate the
amount they will need for retirement, the greatest number of
respondents (37 percent) mentioned living expenses. However, no
other factor was cited by more than 7 percent of all respondents.
These included:
• Life expectancy (7 percent);
• Assets/owning one’s own home (6 percent);
• Health (5 percent);
• Healthcare costs (5 percent);
• Age of retirement (5 percent).
The ING Retirement Number Study was undertaken in conjunction with
ING’s Your Number marketing campaign, which it launched in March
this year. As part of the campaign ING has created a dedicated
website, which incorporates a tool that enables consumers to
calculate their financial requirements for retirement.
