Data & Research April 15, 2010

Survey Finds More Proof the Downturn Means Delayed Retirement

Only 44% of investors reported being confident in their ability to retire in financial security as they had planned, according to a nationwide survey commissioned by Citi and conducted by Hart Research Associates.
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More than a third (36%) said they might need to adjust their plans, and 16% said they are not confident in their ability to retire in financial security.

Thirty percent of non-retired investors said they are considering postponing retirement due to declines in their investment portfolio. Four in 10 said they plan to work part-time in retirement, according to a release of the results. 

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Nearly seven in 10 non-retired investors (69%) plan to remain active in retirement, either by volunteering (26%) or by working part-time (43%) after officially retiring. Among large investors, 42% plan to work part-time and 24% to volunteer.  

The study found 62% of large and small investors (those with investable assets over $500,000 and $100,000, respectively) said they are optimistic the investment climate will get better in the next six months, compared to 35% who said it will get worse. The survey also found that a slim majority of investors believe that the investment climate is better today than it was a year ago (50% better to 41% worse for all investors; 52% better to 37% worse for large investors).  

Despite this optimism, investors are continuing to take a cautious approach overall. By a substantial margin—57% to 42%—investors with investable assets more than $100,000 described their current strategy as being more focused on maintaining wealth rather than trying to build it. Thirty-six percent of investors indicate they are moving assets and savings to less risky areas.  

Only 8% of investors indicated a preference for a high return strategy with high risk (rating their investment strategy as an 8 or higher on a scale of 1 to 10), while 41% rated their strategy as a 4 or lower, indicating their preference for a lower risk and reward.  

Notably, the embattled real estate sector—defined as real estate, investment properties or REITs—topped the list for both all investors and large investors, with 47% and 50% saying it is an excellent or good time to invest in these opportunities, respectively. This was followed by mutual fund accounts (40% investors, 41% large investors), individual stocks (37% investors, 43% large investors), municipal bonds (30% investors, 29% large investors), savings, CDs, and money market accounts (27% investors, 22% large investors), and corporate bonds (20% investors, 24% large investors).  

Hart Research Associates conducted the telephone survey nationally of 756 investors who have at least $100,000 in investable assets, including 317 investors who have assets of more than $500,000, from March 15 to 25.

 

Diversions April 15, 2010

Business Owners Can’t Live Without Their Smartphones

As the workplace becomes increasingly mobile, smartphones have become indispensable to many owners of small and medium-sized businesses, according to a new survey.
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Phone system provider RingCentral conducted a survey among 400 U.S. customers who own small and medium-sized businesses to determine how smartphones, such as BlackBerries and iPhones, have changed the way they do business.

The survey found that a large chunk of business is being conducted on smartphones, and they have outpaced landlines as the phone of choice. More than three-fourths (77%) of respondents said they use their smartphones the most to conduct business, as opposed to an office phone (22%) or home phone (1%). Almost half (47%) of respondents said they use a smartphone two-thirds of the time they are on the phone for work. Another third (34%) said they use their smartphone between one-third and two-thirds of the time.

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Most respondents (63%) still use their computer more for business than their smartphone for business—but 34% said they use their smartphone more for business.

As even more evidence of how smartphones have stolen the hearts of business owners, when asked the top thing they can’t live without, just as many respondents (40%) chose their smartphones as those who chose “having an intimate relationship.” We’ve seen intimacy and cell phones go neck and neck before (see “Which Is It: Cell Phone or Sex?”). The other options respondents could choose were morning coffee (17%) or checking social networking sites (3%).

RingCentral conducted the e-mail survey from March 12 to 16. 

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