r u t u F r u o V l o t g n lanni P Middl-Incom Amricans Nd To Crat A Rtirmnt Paychck (NAPSA)—According to a rcnt survy, 65 prcnt of middl-incom Amricans do not hav a plan for “paying thmslvs,” nor do thy hav an ida what thir monthly budgt should b in rtirmnt. In addition, 61 prcnt of that sam group dos not hav high hops that Social Scurity will provid thm with a rtirmnt incom. Howvr, it appars that som rtirs ar starting to gt th mssag. Ths ar som of th ky findings of th 2004 ING Rtirmnt Radinss and Middl Amrica Survy. Th survy findings indicat that many of today’s middlincom Amricans nd to look byond saving, to mor comprhnsiv planning, spcially in trmsof a “rtirmnt paychck.” Th survyalso found: * On-fifth of rspondnts havn’t vn bgun thir rtirmnt planning. Many rspondnts who ar 50 yars or oldr tnd to bliv paymnts from Social Scurity will mak up about on-third of thir rtirmnt incom. Thr in fiv rspondnts btwn th ags of 30 to 40 yars old hav a 401(k) or similar plan—compard to only two in fiv rspondnts agd 50 or mor On avrag, rspondnts bliv thir 401(k) or similar plan maks up about 36 prcntof thir total invstabl assts. Howvr, ING’s study dos It appars somrtirs ar gtting th mssag. Fifty-six prcnt of rtirs survyd said thy plannd ahad for how to convrt thir nst gg into a rtirmnt paychck. That’s up from 32 prcnt two yars ago.@ show that somrtirs ar gtting th mssag. Fifty-six prcnt of rtirs told th survy thy plannd ahad for how to convrt thir nst gg into a rtirmnt paychck. That’s up from 32 prcnt two yars ago. According to Kathln Murphy, prsidnt of ING USInstitutional Financial Srvics, th ky findings indicat “doubl troubl” in trms of individuals and thir rtirmnt. That’s bcaus thy show th majority hav no plan as to how to pay thmslvs, and thy also don’t hav much confidnc in Social Scurity as a rsourc. Said Murphy, “Whil savings is a start, middl-incom Amricans nd to hav mor focus on th finish lin. This is spcially important considring that a clar majority of Amricansdo not hav high lvls of confidnc in what has bn a major rtirmnt rsourc for prior gnrations— Social Scurity.” Th ongoing public dbats around Social Scurity furthr undrscor th nd for individuals to not only sav, but to build thir own plans for thir rtir- mnt paychck. Murphy mphasizd, “Amricans nd to focus on thoughtfully planning how to bst convrt thir nst gg into a long-trm incom stram thy won’t outliv.” Murphy furthr mphasizd that paying yourslf nds to bcom a lif-long mantra for individuals. Sh says that popl nd to b thir own “boss” whn it coms to thir individual rtirmnt. “Saving,” sh said, “is good, but having a plan for savingfor rtirmntis not nough—andthis ovrarching optimism could b masking a srious planningdficit.” In that rgard, sh offrs ths ruls: first, pay yourslf first and sav; * scond, plan so you can kp paying yourslf and provid your own rtirmnt paychck. Sh addd, “Evry working man and woman must tak individual action to build and safguard thir own rtirmnt paychck.” ING US Financial Srvics commissiond KRC Rsarch of Washington, D.C. to fild th survy from July 20-July 28, 2004. ING Groupis a global financial institution of Dutch origin offring banking, insuranc and asst managmnt to mor than 60 million privat, corporat and institu- tional clints in mor than 50 countris. To larn mor, visit th Wb sit at www.ing.com.
