Data & Research June 11, 2012

Retirees Urge Young Americans to Save for Retirement

Save for the future was the top piece of life advice retirees would pass along to younger generations, a survey found.
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The survey, by the Bankers Life and Casualty Company Center for a Secure Retirement, was conducted in April via Internet by the Blackstone Group and asked 300 retirees age 55 to 75 what they have learned during retirement and what advice they would give to younger generations.  

Nearly all respondents (93%) said saving early is their top piece of advice for retirement planning. That was followed by contributing to retirement plans available at work (84%), doing more planning (61%), investing conservatively (39%) and getting professional advice (37%). One-third (30%) suggested living frugally and one in five middle-income retirees (22%) recommend working as long as one can.

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“Making your money last” was at the top of the list of retirement topics they wish they knew more about. One in four (25%) are looking for investment information and for guidance on how to maximize returns on retirement savings.

Respondents said the biggest financial surprise in retirement was not having enough income. Other surprises included adjusting to a lower income, the high cost of health care, increasing prices and no income increase in the future.

 

The Markets June 11, 2012

ETF Assets Down 5% in May

Exchange-traded fund (ETF) assets decreased $67.4 billion, or 5.7%, in May.
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According to the ETF Snapshot Report from State Street Global Advisors, 1,251 ETFs with assets totaling $1.1 trillion were managed by 37 ETF managers as of the end of the month.  

Market decreases were the reason for the fall in assets, as flows into ETFs topped $5 billion in May. The fixed-income category had $7.9 billion of inflows. International-emerging had the highest outflows of $3.5 billion.  

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As for market performance, international-developed and emerging markets decreased 11.5% and 11.2%, respectively. Domestic large cap, mid cap and small cap were all negative, losing 6.0%, 6.5% and 6.3%, respectively. Commodities fell 13.0%. The U.S. Aggregate, U.S. Treasury and U.S. Corporate Bond categories posted market gains at 0.9%, 1.7% and 0.7% respectively.  

The top three managers in the U.S. ETF marketplace in May were BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard. Collectively they account for approximately 83% of the U.S.-listed ETF market. The top three ETFs in terms of dollar volume traded for the month were the SPDR S&P 500 [SPY], iShares Russell 2000 [IWM] and PowerShares QQQ [QQQ]. 

 

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