While they’re experiencing greater optimism and increasing affluence, African-Americans are hindered in building long-term wealth because of gaps in retirement planning.

Those are some of the findings from the “2015-2016 African American Financial Experience” study from Prudential Financial, Inc., which also found that African-Americans are not taking full advantage of financial and investment tools.

More than half of survey respondents said that they’re better off than they were five years ago and feel that they’re better off than their parents were at their age.

Interestingly, they also describe themselves as savers rather than investors. Most African-Americans (52 percent) feel very well prepared to make smart financial decisions, while only 40 percent of the general population feels the same way.

In addition, those savvy respondents express high levels of confidence about their financial decision-making and money management skills.

Considering the financial crisis, perhaps being savers rather than investors hasn’t been such a bad thing.

Still, retirement plans require some level of investing, and survey respondents most often cited having enough money to maintain their current lifestyle in retirement as a top financial priority.

Among African-Americans offered an employer-sponsored retirement plan, 74 percent contribute to it. This compares with 85 percent of the overall population of employees with access to such plans. In addition, respondents were less likely to say that they owned financial and insurance products.

African-Americans are also caregivers, with one out of five reporting that they provided care to a loved one—and they’re determined not to become a financial burden to their loved ones.

Read: Why women need to improve their financial literacy

That was one of the three top priorities cited by respondents. That could come from personal experience, since almost two thirds of caregiver respondents (among both African-Americans and the general population) said they provide some or all financial support to those they care for. A quarter provide all the support for their loved ones.

But African American respondents exhibit a greater commitment to caregiving, reporting that they spend on average 20.7 hours a week on caregiving tasks, compared with 14.6 hours among the general population.

Read: Communicating about retirement in multicultural markets

Instant Insights /

Better retirement planning needed for African-Americans

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