36 percent not saving for retirement

From Bankrate:

An alarming number of Americans aren't preparing for the day when they'll need to live off their savings.

More than a third of adults say they have not started saving for retirement yet, according to a national poll accompanying Bankrate's monthly Financial Security Index.

Even Americans who are getting close to retirement age seem to be struggling when it comes to planning their financial future. The survey shows that more than a quarter of the respondents age 50 to 64 have yet to start saving for retirement...

While some people aren't even close to being ready for retirement, others say they have been saving since a young age, Bankrate's survey shows.

Measuring Financial Inclusion: The Global Findex Database

This paper (PDF) provides the first analysis of the Global Financial Inclusion (Global Findex) Database, a new set of indicators that measure how adults in 148 economies save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. The data show that 50 percent of adults worldwide have an account at a formal financial institution, though account penetration varies widely across regions, income groups and individual characteristics. In addition, 22 percent of adults report having saved at a formal financial institution in the past 12 months, and 9 percent report having taken out a new loan from a bank, credit union or microfinance institution in the past year. Although half of adults around the world remain unbanked, at least 35 percent of them report barriers to account use that might be addressed by public policy. Among the most commonly reported barriers are high cost, physical distance, and lack of proper documentation, though there are significant differences across regions and individual characteristics.

Link to publication website for Accounts and Payments and Savings, Borrowing, and Risk Management.

Poll: New Yorkers not saving, just hoping

The majority of New Yorkers who are not retired haven't invested heavily in their retirement savings over the past six months, fear Social Security will be gone by the time they retire and think saving enough money for retirement will be a problem, according to a Siena Research Institute Poll. However, they are not worried about maintaining their current standard of living when they stop working.

The poll, the first Special New York State Financial Planning Survey (PDF), released Monday asked 811 New Yorkers (511 not retired, 300 retired) about their current finances and tax filings, savings and retirement.

Read more HERE.

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Poll-New-Yorkers-not-saving-just-hoping-1341986.php