A new AARP survey shows widespread financial anxiety among Gen Xers and Baby Boomers in California. Many worry about saving for retirement — and the cost of housing is one of the main reasons why.
“Housing costs and retirement savings go hand-in-hand,” states the report, titled “California Dreaming or California Struggling?”
A few highlights:
Household bills were the most commonly cited obstacle to saving for retirement — checked off by 47 percent of respondents. But paying for housing expenses, at 42 percent, was next on the list of worries. More than half (56 percent) expressed fear of not having enough money to comfortably retire, while more than three in five (61 percent) said they have considered leaving California because of its high cost of living.
The survey is based on interviews with 800 working Californians (ages 36-70), about 70 percent of whom are homeowners. For the other 30 percent, housing worries are especially acute: 50 percent said they are extremely or very concerned about their ability to find affordable housing in their preferred neighborhood; 49 percent said they would worry about assembling enough funds for a down payment to buy a home; and 40 percent said they worry about their ability to pay monthly rent.
There’s more: nearly half (48 percent) of Gen Xers (age 36-50) said they could not withstand an emergency expense of $5,000 or less, while more than a third of Boomers (34 percent) conceded the same. Among all the respondents, over one in five (22 percent) said they could not even afford an emergency expense of $1,000 or less.
You can read the report here.
Coming back to the housing crisis, Nancy McPherson, AARP’s California state director, said the numbers show how affordability issues have reached a crisis level. Hinting at AARP lobbying efforts in Sacramento, she noted that “a broad base of support exists for legislation that addresses access to affordable housing and retirement savings.”
According to the survey, 63 percent of Gen Xers and 61 percent of Boomers believe elected officials should support legislation increasing access to affordable housing for Californians.
Top: Photo of home for sale in Palo Alto, Calif. . (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
May 06, 2017 at 03:34AM
from Richard Scheinin
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