Financial Security
While many American seniors are
on good financial ground today, they have mixed feelings about their future
prospects.
The majority of older
Americans (64 percent) report that it is very or somewhat easy to pay their
monthly living expenses now, but almost one in four (24 percent) are not
confident that their income will be sufficient to continue to meet their
monthly expenses over the next five to 10 years. When it comes to retirement
savings, almost one quarter (23 percent) of seniors are either not confident
in, or do not have, a financial plan for their retirement years.
If an accident or unexpected
medical issue was to occur, 71 percent of older Americans believe they would
be able to pay associated expenses.
Two-thirds (66 percent) of
Americans aged 65 and older depend on Medicare. Of the respondents aged 60 to
64, one in four are not confident that they will be able to afford the costs
associated with Medicare, such as deductibles, premiums and copays, in future
years.
Additionally, close to
one-third (29 percent) of respondents report they are not confident that they
know about all of the government benefits for which they are eligible.
Of the one in five seniors
who are still employed either full or part-time, 69 percent report that they
are working for economic reasons, but productivity (76 percent) and enjoyment
(70 percent) also, rank high in their list of reasons to stay in the workforce.
Despite this desire to
continue working, only 28 percent of respondents believe that their community
offers enough job opportunities for older Americans.
Caregiving
Seniors are not only
receiving long-term care – they are providing it, too. Half of older Americans
report having someone they consider to be a caregiver in their lives – and
close to one-third (28 percent) of seniors say they serve as a caregiver for
someone else.
Nearly nine in 10 (87
percent) older Americans who have a caregiver say they are receiving care from
a family member. More than half of those caregivers (52 percent) live at home
with their care recipient.
Among those seniors who do
not currently have a caregiver, 39 percent believe it is likely that they will
need one of their children or grandchildren to serve as their caregiver in the
future.
Forty-five percent of
respondents who serve as a caregiver for someone else report that they would
benefit from additional services to support them, such as respite care.
While 61 percent of these
caregivers are aware that there is a service in their community that they could
call to request assistance with everyday needs, only 15 percent report having
utilized such services. An additional 22 percent of seniors are unsure if such
services exist in their communities
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