The May issue of Mary Hunt’s Cheapskate Monthly notes that “Nearly 60 percent of Americans have not taken time to calculate retirement savings needs,” as reported by the 2004 Retirement Confidence Survey.
“While the majority claim they could save $20 more per week for retirement, many of them have not even taken the time to find out how much they really need to save.” With Japan’s flagging pension system a current topic in the news, more and more Japanese people are waking up to the fact that they need to start taking responsibility for their own retirement. The Principal Financial Well-Being Survey notes that only 12 percent of Japanese workers believe their standard of living will improve when they retire, while only 3 percent have confidence in the government’s ability to provide pension or health benefits equal to the ones they currently receive.
Frightening!