A large percentage of Americans in the middle-class demographic claim that they will not slow down in the so-called “golden years” and retire from their work.
According to a new studyconducted by Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) through Harris Interactive, 34 percent of middle-class Americans believe they will work until the age of 80, and another 37 percent are willing to work until they die, or until they are too sick to work.
Though. this may be indicative of a strong work ethic on respondents’ parts, the study’s results are also indicative that those presently working need to build up their war chests pursuant to truly enjoying their “golden years” retired, instead of pushing forward and working for a living.
“For the past three years, the struggle to pay bills is a growing concern, and the prospect of saving for retirement looks dim, particularly for those in their prime saving years,” said Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust head Laurie Nordquist in a statement. She believes that building one’s nest egg and having a retirement plan as early as now could make the decision to retire an easier one once those ideal retirement years come along.
Takeaways from the Wells Fargo study that back up Nordquist’s statements included 59 percent of middle-class consumers expressing that paying monthly bills is their main concern, an increase from the 52 percent in last year’s study. Saving for retirement was the main priority for only 13 percent of respondents, while 42 percent expressed that concurrent payment of bills and saving for the retirement years is not possible at this point.
Overall, 48 percent of respondents are not confident that they would be able to have enough saved up in their nest egg for the time they should be retiring.