A national survey suggests Boomers may be too optimistic about using the equity in their homes to fund retirement. Bell Investment Advisors, which commissioned the survey, reports that 68 percent of Boomers consider their homes a retirement asset. And here’s the most worrisome statistic:

Of those who count their homes as a retirement asset, one in four (24%) say it represents half or more of their retirement savings. “The problem with treating their residence as a retirement asset is that Boomers must move to realize any value from their homes,” said Jim Bell, the company’s president. “Additionally, they may not be able to sell their homes when they want to or for the price they want, which may alter their retirement plans.”

Other key findings:

• Most Boomers expect to keep working past traditional retirement age, but the type of work will be dictated by financial need. Those who consider themselves well-funded plan to pursue personal passions
• One in four Boomers believe they have sufficient funds to retire, but will need to reduce their spending in retirement.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 6th, 2007 at 10:16 am and is filed under Financial Services, Real Estate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.