Gearing up for the golden years: Minority Retirement Confidence Survey paints a mixed picture.Although the retirement outlook for African Americans African American Multiculture A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. is not quite golden, more are saving and planning for retirement, a study shows. Released in May 2003, the Minority Retirement Confidence Survey (MRCS MRCS Member of Royal College of Surgeons. MRCS abbr. Member of the Royal College of Surgeons ) concludes that on the whole retirement confidence for African Americans tends to be lower, and preparations are even further behind the rest of Americans. When household income is held constant, however, there are no statistical differences in confidence between African Americans and workers overall. On the positive side, nearly half of African Americans say they have a general knowledge of investing or saving for retirement. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the survey of 1,000 workers age 25 and over, 23% of African American workers count on Social Security to make up the largest share of their retirement raceme ra·ceme n. An optically inactive chemical compound. , and blacks are 13% more likely than American workers overall to say they will rely most heavily on Social Security for retirement income. Other sources of income named by a relatively large number of African Americans are savings and Investments outside of work (20%) and defined benefit plans Defined benefit plan A pension plan obliging the sponsor to make specified dollar payments to qualifying employees at retirement. The pension obligations are effectively the debt obligation of the plan sponsor. Related: Defined contribution plan such as 401(k) plans through an employer (14%). William Spriggs, director of Research and Public Policy for the National Urban League and a member of the BLACK ENTERPRISE Board of Economists attributes the disparity to three things: lower income, a lack of access to jobs that offer defined contribution plans Defined contribution plan A pension plan whose sponsor is responsible only for making specified contributions into the plan on behalf of qualifying participants. Related: Defined benefit plan (such as a pension) and lower homeownership rates "We do earn less, so the ability for folks to have adequate savings is more limited, and then we have lower homeownership rates." Spriggs says. "So taking equity out of the house when you retire and downsizing (1) Converting mainframe and mini-based systems to client/server LANs. (2) To reduce equipment and associated costs by switching to a less-expensive system. (jargon) downsizing your lifestyle is a problem." Thought Given to Retirement Needs Among African American Workers Need for health insurance coverage A LOT OF THOUGHT 57% A LITTLE OF THOUGHT 29% NO THOUGHT 14% Possibility of healthcare expenses not covered by Medicare A LOT OF THOUGHT 44% A LITTLE OF THOUGHT 33% NO THOUGHT 23% How to manage money in retirement to not outlive savings A LOT OF THOUGHT 43% A LITTLE OF THOUGHT 31% NO THOUGHT 26% Need for long-term insurance A LOT OF THOUGHT 24% A LITTLE OF THOUGHT 38% NO THOUGHT 38% Note: Table made from pie chart. SOURCE: 2003 Minority Retirement Confidence Survey |
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