Current retirees are more confident than ever in their chances of living out their retirement years in comfort, according to this year's annual Retirement Confidence Survey, produced by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

According to EBRI's survey of 1,000 retirees, 82 percent said they are very, or at least somewhat confident they have enough savings to provide for a comfortable retirement.

That's up 7 percent from last year, and 15 percent from retiree confidence levels reported in the wake of the financial crisis.

More than one-third—35 percent—are very confident their savings will provide for a comfortable lifestyle. That level of supreme confidence peaked in 2004, at 42 percent, and plummeted to 20 percent in 2009.

Retirees' increased confidence in managing heath care costs helps explains their overall confidence, the report says. Eight in 10 are at least somewhat confident in their ability to cover out-of-pocket costs, which by some estimates will be up to $250,000 for a couple over the course of retirement. Last year, only seven in 10 were confident in their ability to cover health care.

Still, 36 percent of retirees say the health and dental care they are paying for in retirement is more than they expected, while only 8 percent said those costs were lower than they budgeted for.

Total retirement expenses were more than budgeted for by 30 percent of retired respondents, down from 37 percent last year. For more than half of retirees, expenses are where they were expected to be.

The retirees surveyed in EBRI's study also show less, but still considerable, dependence on Social Security. Nearly six in 10 count it as a major source of their retirement income, down from 67 percent last year, and a survey high of 71 percent in 1994.

Meantime, reliance on retirement savings and investments is growing and reached a survey high this year. One-third said those were major sources of retirement income, more than twice that said so in 2009.

For today's retirees, 43 percent said a defined benefit plan was a major source of the retirement income, up from 30 percent in 2016. About 40 percent work with a retirement advisor, and as many retired earlier than expected, most commonly because of company downsizing.

Debt pinching workers' retirement savings

EBRI's survey, now in its 29th year, also explores 1,000 workers' attitudes on retirement.

Workers' confidence in successfully retiring is also increasing. Almost one-quarter are very confident in their savings track, up from 17 percent last year, while 67 percent are very or somewhat confident, an increase from 54 percent in 2009.

Access to retirement plans is critical to workers' retirement confidence. Those who said they or their spouse are saving in a defined contribution plan or IRA, or participate in a defined benefit plan, are nearly twice as likely to be at least somewhat confident in their retirement prospects than those without retirement plans.

“Retirement confidence continues to be closely related to having a retirement plan,” said Craig Copeland, EBRI senior research associate and co-author of the report, in a statement.

Six in 10 workers consider their debt levels to be at least a minor problem, and 70 percent said their debt has hampered their ability to save for retirement. And more than half of workers said managing their debt has negatively impacted their ability to contribute to workplace retirement plans.

Nearly half of workers—46 percent—are prioritizing other financial goals before saving for retirement. And 45 percent said they are not able to save for retirement while pursuing other goals. Four in 10 said they don't have enough emergency savings to cover a sudden large expense.

Both workers and retirees place a higher premium on income stability in retirement over maintaining wealth. Three-quarters of workers prefer income stability, as do 65 percent of retirees, numbers that would appear to augur for annuitized income streams in retirement.

But both workers and retirees say they would prefer to manage their own retirement assets over purchasing an annuity. One-third of workers said they would rather manager their own money, compared to 20 percent that would prefer annuitization. But 30 percent said they would prefer a combined approach.

Only 9 percent of retirees said they preferred annuitization, and 21 percent prefer a combined approach.

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