QUOTABLE

the wealth management arm of Lincoln Financial Group. “While financial goals don’t need to be complicated, you should be able to easily track and monitor your progress.”

Women Trail Men In Retirement Savings

Annuity sellers might want to target a sales message to women after a new Nationwide Retirement Institute survey of retirement plan participants.

Inflation mostly has unnerved women to a greater degree than men when it comes to retirement planning, the survey found. According to the study, 62% of women, compared to just 47% of men, either expect to retire later than originally planned or don’t believe they will ever be able to retire because of inflation.

This is a significant jump from the 2021 survey results that showed only one in four women — or 25% — expected to postpone or cancel retirement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Women are more likely to feel less prepared because of the time they might have been out of the job market and not contributing to a retirement plan,” said Amelia Dunlap, vice president of Retirement Solutions Marketing for Nationwide.

STUDY: PESSIMISM NOT A HUGE HURDLE FOR ANNUITY SALES

Natural human pessimism about mortality is usually seen as a high hurdle in an annuity sale, but a more positive outlook has less impact than raising the objective facts about longevity, according to a recent study.

Researchers were taking a crack at the “annuity puzzle” that has vexed the insurance industry since annuities were invented — why, if people prefer having a regular pension payout, do they not buy an annuity, essentially a private pension, with their retirement funds?

The authors of the Boston College Center for Retirement Research study

“What Matters for Annuity Demand: Objective Life Expectancy or Subjective Survival Pessimism?” used data from a University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study.

It turns out that we earn our optimism rather than sink into pessimism as we age. People are darker about their longevity between ages 55 and 70 and brighter between 70 and 85.

The authors’ analysis suggested that the assumption that pessimism is the key hurdle for purchase of annuities and the amount to annuitize might be overestimated and that an objective life expectancy might be more important.