Where do wealthy retirees gets their spending money?
Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 8:22 am
Surprise: Even wealthy retirees live on Social Security and pensions
By Mark Miller
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Where do affluent retirees get their income? Portfolios invested in stocks and bonds, you might think - but you'd be wrong. Turns out many are living mainly on Social Security and good old pensions.
That's the surprising finding of new research from a surprising source: Vanguard, a leading provider of retirement saving products like individual retirement accounts and 401(k)s. Vanguard studied the income sources and wealth holdings of more than 2,600 older households (age 60–79) with at least $100,000 in retirement savings. The respondents' median income was $69,500, with median financial assets of $395,000. (The value of housing was excluded.)
The researchers were looking for answers to a mysterious question about the behavior of wealthier retirement account owners: Why do few of them draw down their savings? They found that nearly half the aggregate wealth of these households comes from the two mothers of all guaranteed income programs, Social Security (28 percent) and traditional defined-benefit pensions (20 percent).
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By Mark Miller
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Where do affluent retirees get their income? Portfolios invested in stocks and bonds, you might think - but you'd be wrong. Turns out many are living mainly on Social Security and good old pensions.
That's the surprising finding of new research from a surprising source: Vanguard, a leading provider of retirement saving products like individual retirement accounts and 401(k)s. Vanguard studied the income sources and wealth holdings of more than 2,600 older households (age 60–79) with at least $100,000 in retirement savings. The respondents' median income was $69,500, with median financial assets of $395,000. (The value of housing was excluded.)
The researchers were looking for answers to a mysterious question about the behavior of wealthier retirement account owners: Why do few of them draw down their savings? They found that nearly half the aggregate wealth of these households comes from the two mothers of all guaranteed income programs, Social Security (28 percent) and traditional defined-benefit pensions (20 percent).
MORE