Subscribe to this blog
The 2007 Wall Street Journal Financial Planning Survey polled subscribers in households with investments valued at $250,000 or more. Here are the answers they found to the following questions:
At what age are you planning to retire?
The average age: 65
37.9% plan to work past 65 and 13.4% plan to retire before 60.
What are the top five household financial decisions?
Maintaining my existing life style (54.3% rated very important)
Increasing my current asset level (50.9% rated very important)
Maintaining my current asset level (48.3% rated very important)
Affording health care for my family (46.1% rated very important)
Managing investment risk (44.8% rated very important)
The top three reasons for not using a financial planner/advisor:
I can do the job just as well: 67.0%
I enjoy being in control of my financial investments: 62.2%
The fees are too high: 35.2%
According to this subscriber study, the number of readers using a financial advisor or planner was almost 45%, indicating that more than 55% are managing their retirements on their own. The top two reasons given for using a financial advisor or planner were the belief that a professional would do a better job, and confidence that investments would be preserved through retirement.
