New Study Finds Many Teachers Lack Confidence in their Retirement Outlook; Rising Health Care Costs Possible Culprit

Based on a 2012 nationwide survey of over 1000 state and local government employees, including public educators, police and firefighters, the Center for State and Local Government Excellence and the TIAA-CREF Institute have found that only 16 percent of teachers are very confident they are saving the right amount for retirement.  Overall, just 19 percent of full-time public sector workers are very confident in their retirement income prospects, according to the survey results.

The results of the Survey are analyzed in a new report entitled “2012 Retirement Confidence Survey of the State and Local Government Workforce,” published July 26, 2012.

Other findings include:

·        49 percent of teachers believe that they will need to replace 70 percent or more of their pre-retirement income each year in retirement so that they can live comfortably.

·       Among K–12 teachers, the average preferred retirement age is 59 years and the average expected retirement age is 63 years.

·        57 percent of public sector workers expect to work longer than they would like.

·       Overall, 72 percent of public sector workers expect to work after retiring; for full-time K–12 teachers, 77 percent anticipate doing so.

·       Only 22 percent of public sector workers are very confident that they will have enough money to take care of medical expenses during retirement.

·       Only one third of public sector workers are confident that Medicare can be counted on to provide benefits equal to the value of those provided today.

The Center believes that the survey results indicate that “the rising cost of health care is a factor in the tepid expression of overall retirement confidence.”

Ø  2012 Retirement Confidence Survey of the State and Local Government Workforce