By Lynnley Browning, The Messenger featuring Vincent R. Birardi, CFP®, AIF®, Wealth Advisor at Halbert Hargrove
They’re more likely to use financial advisors, but one in three rich Americans still fear that there won’t be enough gold in their golden years
Got more than $1 million saved up, along with prudent investments for the long haul and solid advice from a wealth planner?
That seeming trifecta may not be enough to carry you financially through old age.
At least that’s what one in three American millionaires think, according to a study by Northwestern Mutual released Tuesday.
Some 33% of Americans age 18 and over with at least $1 million in investable assets — meaning stocks, funds, bonds and cash — fret that they’ll outlive their savings, according to the study.
The finding means that when it comes to money, the affluent, middle class and struggling pretty much share one thing in common: A separate Northwestern Mutual report released in June found that 43% of Americans of all means have the exact same fear, almost as many as who brood about declining health (44%).
Wealth may be relative — millionaires think they’re poor compared to Elon Musk and his $265 billion; high-income professionals moan they’re barely middle class after paying for mortgages and private school tuitions, and so on. But the general feeling of retirement insecurity in America is universal.
“The emotion is real,” said Vincent Birardi, a wealth advisor at Halbert Hargrove in Long Beach, California. “It’s part of the human psyche to have a certain level of fear.”
What’s broadly dubbed a retirement crisis centers on the 47 million households with older adults — 80% of such households — that are financially struggling today or are at risk of falling into economic insecurity as they age, according to the National Council on Aging.
