Minneapolis (March 3, 2004) -- Most workers are putting their retirement savings into multiple buckets --and they may all be the same kind of buckets, according to a survey by American Express Financial Advisors.
Almost half of all Americans own two or more of the same type of retirement accounts, according to the survey by AEFA. Slightly more than one-third of all individuals’ have three or more retirement accounts, while one out of every six people owns five or more accounts.
What's more, AmEx said that the vast majority (70 percent) of households with employer-sponsored retirement accounts mistakenly believes that they pay no fees for the management of these accounts.
The survey also found that over one-third of investors (35 percent) spent just one to three hours last year reviewing their retirement accounts, while one-quarter spent no time at all. According to AEFA, more than one in 10 investors surveyed doesn’t know how much money they have saved for retirement, and more than one in 10 can't identify the specific type of retirement account they own.
In addition, a large majority of those surveyed said they liked having their retirement savings invested in more than one place, which AmEx said may demonstrate a lack of real understanding about asset allocation. The poll, conducted by American Express Global Marketplace Insights, surveyed 894 American households with at least one retirement plan in their household.
-- WebCPA staff
