Americans haven't been all that self-assured about their prospects for retirement.
In fact, last year just 64 percent of workers were confident they'd be able to manage a comfortable retirement, while in 2015, 72 percent did.
But according to the latest version of Capital One Investing's Financial Freedom Survey, 2017 saw that confidence slip to just 62 percent. In addition, fewer than half of respondents even have a long-term financial plan.
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The steady decline could owe its continued existence to a number of factors. The top reasons are lack of knowledge and experience (51 percent), distrust of the markets and the financial industry (49 percent), lack of pricing transparency (45 percent) and investing complexity (42 percent).
People also aren't exactly rushing to take actions even they believe they should be taking, with 39 percent of non-retired Americans believing they should contribute 15 percent or more of their income to retirement.
But only 13 percent are doing so, and that's down from 15 percent last year.
In fact, 65 percent of non-retired Americans say they're putting away some portion of their income for retirement but more than half of those non-retirees — 52 percent — are contributing 15 percent or less (that's the same as last year) and 32 percent aren't saving anything at all.
And that's up two percent from last year.
Seventy-one percent of working Americans have access to an employer-based retirement plan, but younger people aren't exactly flocking to use it. Just 55 percent of millennials with access are participating, compared to 83 percent of Gen X and 80 percent of boomers.
And when it comes to the American dream, there are some serious changes among respondents compared to the notion of bettering themselves. While 28 percent of respondents say it's financial security, the same percentage say it is living debt free.
And once again, young people are setting the bar pretty low. Just 9 percent of millennials are focusing on having a better financial position compared with their parents. Instead, they're looking toward living debt free (27 percent), feeling financially secure (25 percent) or working because they want to, not because they have to (22 percent).
Women, who have a lower level of confidence than men regarding being on track for retirement (59 percent, compared with 65 percent), are more likely to see the American dream as feeling financially secure (33 percent of women compared with 23 percent of men).
Men, on the other hand, see it as working because they want to, not because they have to (24 percent compared with 13 percent).
And parents are more likely to say it's leaving a financial legacy (18 percent), while nonparents are more likely to say it's working because they want to, not because they have to (23 percent).
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