Although their retirement worries are similar, regardless of age, preparation for retirement differs considerably from married and partnered people to singles.(Photo: Getty)
Regardless of which generation they are, married couples or those with partners do better at accumulating wealth, winning higher incomes and saving for retirement, and they're also more likely to have a positive attitude toward their finances.
Such are the findings in a study from the Society of Actuaries, which also finds that singles are far more focused on getting by without running out of money and paying down debt.
Although their retirement worries are similar, regardless of age, preparation for retirement differs considerably from married and partnered people to singles.
According to the report, married and partnered people, at 59 percent, are more likely to say they're working for pay than singles (51 percent), while singles are more likely to report being unemployed or disabled.
In addition, while both groups are equally likely to have a bachelor's degree, those married and partnered are more likely to have higher-level degrees and singles are more likely to have finished their education prior to college.
Not only are married/partnered people more likely to approach their finances with an attitude of thrift, savings and planning, singles, particularly among older generations—GenX, early boomers and the Silent generation—are particularly less likely to see themselves as thrifty savers who are good at planning. Says the report, “These findings are potentially troublesome, given that these older generations are generally approaching or in retirement.”
Here's where it gets a bit scary: Among singles, fully half say they “can only plan from paycheck to paycheck or two to three months ahead when reviewing their financial situation,” while just a third of married/partnered individuals say so.
And again, the differences are even more stark for late boomers, early boomers and the Silents—among whom a quarter of singles can only plan paycheck to paycheck; among the married/partnered, just 11 percent say so.
And at the other end of the spectrum, says the report, “one in five of those married or partnered plans for the rest of their lives, while this is true for only 14 percent of single individuals.”
In addition, 64 percent of the married/partnered give retirement saving a high priority, compared to just 52 percent of singles, while 74 percent of singles are more worried about affording everyday bills (74 percent compared with 67 percent) and paying off student loans (17 percent, compared with 13 percent).
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Marlene Satter
Marlene Y. Satter has worked in and written about the financial industry for decades.
