Workers Worry Over Retirement Readiness

Nearly 50 percent of workers have set aside less than $25,000 for their retirement, while 24 percent have $25,000 to $99,999, 15 percent have $100,000 to $249,999, and 12 percent have $250,000 or more. The figures do not include the values of primary residences or pensions.

Daniel J. Houston, president for retirement and investor services with the Principal Financial Group in Des Moines, Iowa, which was a sponsor of the survey, said the low savings balances were especially troubling because the current generation of workers isn't likely to have the full array of pension and retiree health care benefits of earlier generations.

He was heartened by the increase in workers who have tried to calculate how much they need to save 47 percent in 2008, up from 43 percent in 2007 because it suggests they may focus on increasing retirement savings.

Workers and retirees alike expressed concerns about health care costs.

Some 22 percent of workers said they were worried about not having enough money to cover medical expenses in retirement, and 27 percent expressed concern about long-term care costs. Among retirees, 15 percent were worried about medical expenses and 28 percent about long-term care.

The study, conducted with the Mathew Greenwald & Associates research firm, involved telephone interviews with more than 1,320 individuals age 25 and older and had a sampling error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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