Most Americans Not Saving More for Retirement

NEW YORK, Aug. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Only 18% of working Americans are saving more for retirement now than they were one year ago, according to a new Bankrate.com (NYSE: RATE) report. Seventeen percent are saving less and 54% are saving about the same amount.

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Bankrate commissioned similar surveys in August 2011 and August 2012. This year's results are virtually identical to last year's. There has been some improvement since 2011, when 29% of working Americans were saving less for retirement than they were in 2010.

Employed Americans between the ages of 50 and 64 are the most likely of all age brackets to be saving less this year than last.

"This is troubling considering the availability of catch-up contributions for those 50 and up, as well as the higher 2013 contribution limits for all eligible IRA and 401(k) contributors," said Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate.com's senior financial analyst.

Upper-middle-income households are another trouble spot: 21% are saving less for retirement than they were last year and only 14% are saving more.

Overall, the Bankrate.com Financial Security Index is down for a second straight month, but at 100.5, it is clinging to a level above 100 that indicates improved financial security versus one year ago. The Index has been above 100 for six consecutive months.

Readings slipped on all five components in August (job security, net worth, debt, savings and overall financial situation). Four of the five, however, are still showing improvement over the past year. Savings remains the weak link, with those saying they're less comfortable outnumbering those that are more comfortable by a margin of nearly two-to-one. Consumers have voiced negative sentiment on savings in every month since polling began in Dec. 2010.

Following this month's disappointing unemployment report, job security among the highest-income households (annual income greater than $75,000) turned negative compared with one year ago.

The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International (PSRAI) and can be seen in its entirety here:

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/consumer-index/financial-security-charts-0813.aspx

PSRAI obtained telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,005 adults living in the continental United States. Interviews were conducted by landline phone (501) and cellphone (504, including 239 without a landline phone) in English by Princeton Data Source from August 1-4, 2013. Statistical results are weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. The margin of sampling error for the complete set of weighted data is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.

About Bankrate, Inc.

Bankrate is a leading publisher, aggregator, and distributor of personal finance content on the Internet. Bankrate provides consumers with proprietary, fully researched, comprehensive, independent and objective personal finance editorial content across multiple vertical categories including mortgages, deposits, insurance, credit cards, and other categories, such as retirement, automobile loans, and taxes. The Bankrate network includes Bankrate.com, our flagship website, and other owned and operated personal finance websites, including CreditCards.com, Interest.com, Bankaholic.com, Mortgage-calc.com, CreditCardGuide.com, Nationwide Card Services, InsuranceQuotes.com, CarInsuranceQuotes.com, InsureMe, Bankrate.com.cn, CreditCards.ca, NetQuote.com, and CD.com. Bankrate aggregates rate information from over 4,800 institutions on more than 300 financial products. With coverage of nearly 600 local markets in all 50 U.S. states, Bankrate generates over 172,000 distinct rate tables capturing on average over three million pieces of information daily. Bankrate develops and provides web services to over 80 co-branded websites with online partners, including some of the most trusted and frequently visited personal finance sites on the Internet such as Yahoo!, AOL, CNBC, and Bloomberg. In addition, Bankrate licenses editorial content to over 500 newspapers on a daily basis including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Boston Globe.

For more information:

Ted Rossman
Public Relations Manager
Bankrate, Inc.
ted.rossman@bankrate.com 
(917) 368-8635

SOURCE Bankrate, Inc.