Baby boomers said they are entering retirement with on average 12% fewer assets today than they had four years ago, according to a Cogent Research study.
As of October 2010, first wave baby boomers, those born between 1946 and 1955, had an average of $708,000 in investable assets, including money from retirement savings, compared to the $809,000 this same group reported in October 2006. While less affluent overall, younger second wave boomers ages 45 to 54 appeared to be in better shape. Cogent found that 5% of them are currently retired, and as a group, their average investable assets had grown by 10% since 2006.
The second wave boomers were likely helped by greater overall equity exposure and greater participation in employer-sponsored retirement plans, according to Cogent. Ownership in ESRPs among investors ages 45-54 increased from 79% in 2009 to 84% in 2010, and as a proportion of their total investable assets, money in retirement plans increased from 45% to 50% in the same time frame.
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"It's definitely a good sign that both retirement plan participation and contributions are up significantly over last year," said John Meunier, Cogent principal. "It signals that investors are once again thinking ahead and planning for the future, instead of last year when they were still hunkered down waiting for the storm to pass."
The boomer data comes from Cogent Research 2011 Investor Brandscape report and is based on a nationally representative survey of 4,000 affluent consumers with at least $100,000 in investable assets. Cogent said it has been conducting the study since 2006.
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