RIAs seeing increase in client anxiety over retirement plans, survey shows
Recent market volatility is causing concerned clients to phone their RIAs with worries about whether they will be able to retire as planned. With the largest cohort in American history turning 65 in 2024, a new study shows the calls — and the anxiety — are only going to increase.
The RIA Protected Accumulation + Retirement Income Survey released Wednesday by insurance platform provider RetireOne and insurer Allianz Life showed that clients are increasingly worried about their retirement prospects and the level of financial security they can achieve during their golden years.
According to the study, 97% of investment advisor representatives of RIA firms cite client concerns about the impact of inflation on their retirement portfolios. Furthermore, 85% say their clients expressed apprehension about the adequacy of their Social Security benefits. On top of that, 63% of respondents believe their clients worry that employer-provided retirement benefits may be insufficient.
Meanwhile, lower return expectations are presenting their own planning headwinds. The study showed 48% of respondents expect long-term U.S. equity returns to be 2 to 4 percentage points off historical averages, and 7 in 10 predict the same for fixed income.
The overall pessimism may account for the more than a third of the survey’s respondents who think the safe withdrawal rate is actually less than the well-known 4% level established in William Bengen’s research.
“Given the ongoing risks to a retirement income strategy like inflation and market volatility, it is not surprising that so many respondents say their clients are asking about how to protect their income in retirement,” Corey Walther, president of Allianz Life financial services, said in a
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