More than 30 percent of respondents to a recent MassMutual survey of American workers said they believe the country will fall back into recession within the next year, with 38 percent saying they were either somewhat or very worried about losing their jobs.
The survey, sponsored by MassMutual Retirement Services and conducted by Brightwork Partners, polled American workers eligible to participate in an employer-sponsored defined contribution retirement plan. The results indicate that the weak economy is weighing heavily on the minds of American workers, MassMutual said.
Overall, the biggest financial worry was "just keeping up with monthly expenses" (21 percent), closely followed by "saving enough for retirement" (18 percent) – but there are important distinctions between genders and age groups:
- Saving enough for retirement is the biggest financial worry for men, but women are far more concerned about just keeping up with monthly expenses – in fact, more than twice as many women said they were more concerned about monthly expenses than saving enough for retirement.
- Respondents under 30 have significant concern about saving to buy a home, indicating that there is still an appetite for home ownership among younger workers. Keeping up with monthly expenses was their only larger concern.
- The top two concerns for people over the age of 60 were "expense of catastrophic illness" and "long-term care for yourself or your spouse when you need it" – two factors that have potential to rapidly deplete retirement savings.
"This data clearly captures the uncertainty that is pervasive in today’s economic environment and, at the same time, it shows that saving for retirement is a top-of-mind concern," said Elaine Sarsynski, executive vice president of MassMutual’s Retirement Services Division and chairman and CEO of MassMutual International LLC.
The nationwide survey was conducted online between June 29 and July 29, and included 2,170 defined contribution plan participants who are eligible to participate in a 401(k), 403(b), 457 or similar workplace retirement plan.
