Retirement Facts - Part 2
We’re here with Part 2 of our Retirement Facts series. This week, we’re focusing on some demographics of retirement – marital status, age groups, and wealth segments.
For the purposes of these studies, the LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute defined “Single” as widowed, divorced, or never married, and the age of Married households is based on age of the oldest spouse.
Overview: Retired Households
Nearly 126 million households were surveyed in 2016.
34.7 million (28%) of the total households surveyed were partially/fully retired.
19.2 million (16%) were married households, 5.3 million (4%) were single men, and 10.1 million (8%) were single women.
Average Assets by Marital Status
Married households - $803,999 in average assets
Single men - $333,241 in average assets
Single women - $229,696 in average assets
Breaking these three groups down by age group:
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Top 3 Age Groups with the Most in Average Assets by Martial Status |
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|
Married Households |
Single Men |
Single Women |
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|
Age Group |
Average Assets |
Age Group |
Average Assets |
Age Group |
Average Assets |
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|
55 to 64 |
$ 806,550 |
75 or older |
$ 504,031 |
65 to 74 |
$ 260,168 |
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|
75 or older |
$ 802,034 |
55 to 64 |
$ 324,581 |
75 or older |
$ 206,402 |
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|
65 to 74 |
$ 782,975 |
65 to 74 |
$ 292,806 |
55 to 64 |
$ 104,651 |
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The asset differences between the top 3 married household age groups is relatively small, with only $23,575 between the 55 to 65 and 65 to 74 age groups.
The asset differences between the single men age groups is by far the largest, with $211,225 between the 75 or older and 65 to 74 age groups.
The asset differences between the single women age groups are also fairly large, with $155,517 between the 65 to 74 and 55 to 64 age groups.
Financial Products
95% of married households, 89% of single men, and 88% of single women own cash/cash equivalents.
Retirement/pension accounts are the second leading financial product. 62% of married households, 38% of single men, and 39% of single women own retirement/pension plans.
Deferred annuities are the least owned financial product. 4% of married households own them, 2% of single men own them, and 4% of single women own them.
Partially/Fully Retired Married, Single Men, and Single Women Households
The study defined 6 wealth segments by assets:
Low-net-worth: Under 100k
Middle-market: $100k to $249k
Mass-affluent: $250k to $499k
Affluent: $500k to $999k
High-net-worth: $1.0 million to $3.49 million
Mega-millionaire: $3.5 million or more
Across all three groups, the majority of households fell into the low-net-worth category. We'll cover the statistics for low-net-worth, middle-market, and mega-millionaire.
Married Households
Approximately 19.2 million married households were partially/fully retired in 2016.
- 9 million of those households (13%) were considered low-net-worth.
- 2.9 million (4%) were considered middle-market.
- 909,165 households (1%) were considered mega-millionaires.
Single Men
Approximately 5.3 million single men were partially/fully retired in 2016.
- 3.6 million (17%) were considered low-net-worth.
- 901,214 single men (4%) were considered middle-market.
- 91,610 single men (0%) were considered mega-millionaires.
Single Women
Approximately 10.1 million single women were partially/fully retired in 2016.
- 6.8 million (20%) of those single women were considered low-net-worth.
- 1.4 million (4%) were considered middle-market.
- 72,409 women (0%) were considered mega-millionaires.
Check out our previous retirement centered posts: