Thursday, February 10, 2011

The rich keep working - women do retirement better than men

“The “vast” majority of Baby Boomers intend to live a more active retirement lifestyle than their parents”

This is what Bank of America said in its latest Merrill Lynch Affluent Insights Quarterly, a survey examining the values, financial priorities and concerns of affluent Americans.

This survey confirms a couple of themes that I have talked about over the past 12 months or so. Firstly, the people who least need to continue doing stuff during their ‘retirement’ do and that older women have a different take on ‘retirement’ than men.

Here are some stats from the research.

70% of these affluent Baby Boomers, those with investable assets in excess of $250,000, plan to keep working, at least part-time, as a means of remaining active and engaged during this stage in life. Other ways in which Baby Boomers look forward to staying active during their retirement years include:

  • Pursuing additional professional success (32%)
  • Continuing their education (26%)
  • Learning a new trade (24%)
  • Starting or furthering their own business (20%)

These are some gender disparities

  • 86% of women plan to spend time traveling, compared to 66% of men
  • 74% of women plan to enjoy a hobby, compared to 60% of men
  • 64% of women plan to be more involved in their community, compared to 43% of men
  • 62% of women plan to dedicate more time to philanthropic endeavors, compared to 41% of men
  • 24% of men plan to start or further their own business, compared to 14% of women

This makes you wonder what these wealthy guys are going to do once they stop working! Dick Stroud

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