Only 19 percent of full-time public sector workers are very confident they will be able to retire comfortably, according to a new study by the Center for State and Local Government Excellence and TIAA-CREF Institute.
It also found that the rising cost of health care is a major concern.
The "2012 Retirement Confidence Survey of the State and Local Government Workforce" surveyed more than 1,200 state and local government employees across the country, including public educators, police and firefighters.
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It found that only 16 percent of teachers and 25 percent of police and firefighters are very confident they have saved enough for retirement. Fifty-seven percent of public sector workers expect to work longer than they would like and 72 percent expect to work for pay after retiring.
The rising cost of health care is a factor in the tepid expression of overall retirement confidence. Only 22 percent said they were very confident they would have enough money to take care of medical expenses during retirement and two-thirds are not confident that Medicare will continue to provide benefits of equal value to those provided today.
"A large number of public employees have done little to save for out-of-pocket medical expenses in retirement, which is an area of concern," said Joshua Franzel, Center for State and Local Government Excellence vice president of research and co-author of the report. "The survey found that this is the case for nearly half of police and firefighters and 63 percent of teachers. Health care costs, the future status of Medicare, and lack of personal health care savings contribute to workers' anxiety about being ready for retirement."
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