Margarida Correia

“Those with an income shortfall are far more likely to be low-income, low-asset households, and they spend down their liquid assets at a far faster rate than households that do not have an income shortfall,” says one expert with the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

“Those with an income shortfall are far more likely to be low-income, low-asset households, and they spend down their liquid assets at a far faster rate than households that do not have an income shortfall,” says one researcher with the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

More than eight in 10 married baby boomers (81.9%) report having retirement savings and 55.7% have gone through the process of calculating a retirement savings goal, compared with only 66.6% and 40.8%, respectively, for singles.

In 2010, pre-retirees defined as individuals between the age of 55 and 64 had $6.1 trillion in investable assets, LIMRA reports.

How many Gen X and Gen Y consumers are saving for retirement? Not nearly enough, according to LIMRA, an industry-funded research group.

Investors under the age of 45 account for one-third of all Americans with more than $100,000 in investable assets, up from 20% in 2010, according to Cogent Research.

‘Financial planning’ and ‘retirement income’ are both snooze-inducing phrases for potential investors, according to Russell Investments. The firm recommends talking instead about sustainable ‘lifestyle design.’

A new tool allows investors to take a glimpse into their age-tattered future, which a recent university study says encourages more savings.

In a new study, only 14% of those aged 55 and older say their top financial priority is the accumulation of maximum wealth; far more want to save enough to have peace of mind.

Two-thirds of middle-income Americans are saving less than 5% of their annual income for retirement, with nearly a quarter saving nothing at all, according to research from LIMRA.

More and more, workers aged 53 to 65 perceive traditional ideas of retirement as outdated. A new report says 55% plan to keep working full-time as long as their health permits.

New Limra survey indicates that more than a quarter of workers 55 or older aren’t saving anything at all for retirement.

The majority of baby boomers and Gen Xers appear to be looking at their retirement years through rose-colored glasses. More than three in four feel confident they will have enough money to live comfortably in retirement, even though nearly 40% of baby boomers and about two-thirds of Gen Xers have less than $100,000 in retirement savings. Moreover, a worrisome percentage —21.7% of baby boomers and 27.8% of Gen Xers — has no retirement savings at all. The grim statistics are the highlights of a report released by the Insured Retirement Institute.

Analysis shows that retirement savings plans are seeing an uptick – even among the younger generation of workers.

Fidelity Investments reported strong growth in defined contribution sales commitments during the first half of 2012. The company attracted 838 new clients, representing 522,000 participants and $25.2 billion in assets under administration, up $36% from the $18.5 billion in sales commitments in the first half of 2011.

Financial services firms are broadening the scope of their retirement advice tools and planning a major push to help advisers understand them. That’s the key takeaway of an industry survey by Hearts & Wallets, a research firm that tracks retirement income trends.

Advisers are more committed than ever to helping clients with their retirement income planning, but they face a host of challenges, including not knowing where to go to build their knowledge of retirement planning.

Most advisers and their clients don’t see eye to eye on measuring portfolio performance, according to global asset manager Russell Investments’ latest quarterly survey of U.S. financial advisers.

Financial advisers have turned decidedly more optimistic about the market’s prospects for 2012, according to an SEI Quick Poll. Nine in 10 of the advisers surveyed in early February, including bank advisors, say they expect a positive return for the S&P 500 in 2012, up 18% from a similar survey conducted in mid-January. More than six in 10, 63%, predicted gains greater than 5%, a sentiment that spread dramatically from just three weeks ago.

The U.S. retirement market is projected to grow to nearly $22 trillion by 2016. That represents a 38% increase from an estimated $16 trillion mark for the end of 2011, due mostly to continuing market recovery, according to data released Monday by Cerulli Associates, a Boston-based research firm.