Although six out of 10 retired boomers feel better than they expected to about retirement, that doesn't mean that the road has been totally smooth.
In fact, boomers are waking up to new financial realities they didn't expect, such as higher spending on health care, travel, taxes, utilities and food.
That's according to new research from Capital Group, which finds that some of the financial surprises boomers face in retirement are from increased spending in areas they didn't anticipate: health care, travel and taxes.
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Health care has ambushed 43 percent of boomers, who say they're spending more than they expected to; 40 percent say that the travel they always wanted to do is costing them more than they thought, while 34 percent didn't expect that as retirees they'd be forking over so much in taxes.
Those who are already retired are less worried about things than boomers who are still working, with 60 percent of boomers saying they feel positive about their retirement and 30 percent saying it's about what they expected.
Just 10 percent feel disappointed or negative about their retirement—thanks chiefly to financial stress.
That said, 59 percent of working American adults and 65 percent of nonretired boomers are worried about not having enough money for retirement, compared to only 27 percent of retired boomers.
The difference in their levels of worry holds true even when comparing retired and working boomers with similar-sized nest eggs. But 37 percent of boomers are worried about the effect of spending on long-term care for themselves or a family member could impact their retirement.
Close to a third—31 percent—of boomer investors indicate no financial concerns, compared to only 16 percent of GenXers and 11 percent of millennials.
And the number of GenXers and millennials who are worried about how household income, debt, education costs or caregiving for an aging parent could hold them back financially is two to three times higher than for boomers.
Interestingly, a majority of boomers are actually bullish about the next 10 years, with 59 percent thinking the market will go even higher and perform at least as well as the past five years or so, or it will average single-digit returns in line with historical averages.
But not all boomers feel that way, with 29 percent anticipating either major volatility and market corrections over the next 10 years or even a crash to rival the 2001 dot-com fiasco or the Great Recession. And 17 percent say they haven't a clue.
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