Retirement plans are often a primary concern for baby boomers. With the retirement years literally around the corner, it can often feel like a mad scramble to "figure things out". While some television commercials poke fun at the lack of planning most Americans have in place - recent doubts on the social security system make this an alarming concern for boomers.
Six in 10 Americans who haven't reached retirement age say they don't think they'll receive Social Security benefits, a Gallup poll released Tuesday indicated.
Similarly, retirees are more likely to say now than five years ago they believe their Social Security benefits will be cut, results indicated.
Non-retirees' confidence in the Social Security system has been relatively low during the last 21 years, with 49 percent saying they would receive benefits when Gallup first used the current question wording in 1989 to the 36 percent saying they'd get benefits in the current poll, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said.
Respondents in the 18-34 age bracket indicated they are the least likely to believe they will get Social Security benefits when they retire, the results showed. A majority of non-retired workers at least 55 years old expressed confidence that they would receive benefits.
Fifty-four percent of retirees said Social Security was a major source of income, Gallup said.
Results are based on nationwide telephone interviews with 1,020 adults conducted July 8-11. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of error is 4 percentage points. For results based on the sample of 675 non-retirees, the margin of error is 4 percentage points. For results based on the sample of 345 retirees, the margin of error is 6 percentage points.
