BlackRock’s second in a planned series of voter surveys about retirement readiness points to the potential for that topic to sport a higher profile on political radar screens over the next four years.
The latest results, based on a survey of 1,000 registered voters conducted in the weeks prior to Donald J. Trump’s Jan. 20 return to the White House, found 80% of respondents looking to Trump and the U.S. Congress to prioritize legislation that would help people plan and save for a secure retirement.
The latest finding was consistent with the maiden survey’s results in September, which showed only 13% of respondents saying officials in Washington are focused on helping them save for a secure retirement.
Only 28% of respondents said the retirement system, as currently configured, gives working Americans the necessary tools and resources to save for a secure retirement.
BlackRock said it will join the Bipartisan Policy Center in convening a 2025 retirement summit in Washington on March 12, bringing together elected officials, corporate leaders, small-business owners, union representatives, retirees, and state and federal policymakers to focus on the theme of “redefining retirement.”
The latest survey found only 18% of respondents are confident that they’ll have enough money to live comfortably on in retirement, down slightly from 22% in the September survey.
Likewise little changed was the more than $2 million savings target respondents figure they will need to have a secure retirement. Of the 1,000 voters surveyed, 33% reported having no retirement savings while 69% said they have less than $150,000. For those in Generation X, aged 44 to 59, 62% said they had less than $150,000 in savings.
Among Black and Hispanic respondents, 47% and 46%, respectively, reported no retirement savings, while the corresponding figures for rural voters and women stood at 40% and 37%, respectively. A BlackRock spokeswoman couldn’t immediately say whether the female voters surveyed were the heads of their households.
