It may be a no-brainer, but savings behavior continues to be a critical factor in ensuring retirement preparedness. This is according to new research by the Putnam Lifetime Income Score, a survey of 4,000 working Americans. With U.S. households presently on track to replace 65% of their current income in retirement, a slight uptick from the June 2011 report, those best positioned for success have access to workplace savings plans, and proceed to defer 10% or more of their income.
While the study highlighted several key success factors, total household savings continued to be a critical determinant of retirement preparedness. Households that were best prepared have a total household retirement savings rate of 27.4%, while those least prepared (0% to <45%) had total household retirement savings rates of only 5.1%.
