Economic Downturn Has Crimped Retirement Plans, TIAA-CREF Survey Shows

For the most part, anecdotes have been the best source of information about just how much the tattered economy has affected people’s retirement plans.

But the TIAA-CREF Institute has sought to bring a bit of clarity to the matter with data from a short survey (not yet posted online) of some TIAA-CREF participants who are age 50 and older. Most of the people, who were surveyed every month from October to March, work in higher education.

In March 37 percent of them had put off retirement, compared with 28 percent in October of the previous year. When it comes to dialing down their lifestyle in retirement, 37 percent surveyed in March said they had cut back. Six months earlier, 25 percent said they had changed their plans for how to live in retirement.

Among other findings, 9 percent of those surveyed in March had decreased their retirement-plan contributions, up from 3 percent in October. And 38 percent had made changes in what their money was invested in, up from 19 percent.

Paul Yakoboski, a principal research fellow and retirement scholar with the TIAA-CREF Institute, said a more in-depth survey that focuses solely on those in higher education is under way. —Audrey Williams June