BABY boomers feel financially unprepared for retirement, as alarming new figures show 86 per cent are just not ready to clock off.

Figures released today by REST Industry Super show just one in seven baby boomers believes their finances will enable them to successfully retire. The research published in The Journey Begins report found 51 per cent of baby boomers are slightly prepared once they leave the workforce and 35 per cent are completely underprepared.

REST chief executive officer Damian Hill said the results showed baby boomers were not “financially nor psychologically ready for retirement.”

“There’s a worryingly low understanding among baby boomers about the cost of funding retirement,” he said.

“Almost half believe they won’t have to give anything up come retirement due to financial constraints, so there’s quite a gap in wants versus actuality there.”

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia’s latest estimates on funds needed for retirement estimated $56,236 a year was needed for a “comfortable lifestyle” for a couple and $41,090 for a single person. ASFA’s chief executive officer Pauline Vamos said the survey results were a concern.

“A lot of baby boomers are thinking about retirement but for a lot a people it’s a question of `where do I start’,” she said.

“Talk to your fund, talk to your adviser…and people need to think about how much they need in retirement to live on.

“But there’s a lot of baby boomers working as hard as they can to build up their nest egg and not thinking about retirement.”

The results also found 70 per cent of baby boomers had not sought financial advice when working out a retirement plan.

Article taken from Brisbane Courier Mail 22/1/2013